Chasing Demons
by mynameismyth
Summary: When being the Dark One becomes too much, Emma does what she's always done; she runs away. Emma leaves Storybrooke with Henry, returning years later to get rid of the darkness once and for all. Contains a lot of Captain Swan and Charming Family feels
1. Prologue

Emma tip toed down the stairs as quietly as she could, not wanting to wake anyone up. Honestly, it would have been easier to just use her magic to appear outside, but she couldn't help wanting to get one last look at the loft, at her little brother peacefully sleeping in his crib, her parents sleeping on their bed, unware of anything. The sentimental side of her wanted to cherish this. This place. The only place she felt home.

The last sight of the apartment as she closed the door almost made her stay, but she knew she couldn't. Which is why she had to do this at night, when there was no one to stop her. She knew that it would only take a little convincing to get her to stay. She didn't want to leave. Every bit of her was screaming in protest, but she couldn't stand it anymore.

It had been almost four months since she became the Dark One. Four months of everyone putting forth all their effort searching for Merlin who would have the power to get rid of the darkness forever. But the more they looked, the more pointless it seemed to become.

Ever since it had happened, there were two sides of Emma at war, constantly. Two sides fighting for control. And more times than not, it felt like the darkness was winning, and at any moment it would consume her. It was tiring and terrifying. She couldn't trust anyone, not even herself. Rumpelstiltskin had woken up just a few weeks ago. He had mentioned that maybe the light magic in her didn't want to mix with the dark, which was why she felt like she was going crazy for so long. He said that the darkness had taken him quicker than it was taking her, and it was probably not very long before it would suppress her light magic enough to take control like it did him. Of course, as he pointed out, having people she loved around would help keep her true self to the surface, just like Belle and Baelfire had done for him. And it did help. But it felt like a band aid solution at best some times. Nothing that lasted very long.

There had been times when the darkness would all but take over, and she'd said things, done things that hurt everyone around her. She could tell her parents were apprehensive of her being around Neal. She couldn't blame them. She'd attacked Regina, frightening Henry. It was just better if she left town. That way, the darkness could be put at bay in her mind, easier to control, and everyone could be free from her, until they found a solution. And she could be free of this ongoing torment.

Emma reached the street before she felt that someone was following her. She could sense instantly who it was. She walked to her car, then paused letting him catch up.

"Henry, you need to go back inside." She stated firmly, not turning around.

"Where are you going?" His voice was sad, heartbroken. But she could tell he was trying to sound brave.

Turning around, she saw his face. He was putting on his best poker face, trying to not show emotion. "Henry I have to go. I can't stay here anymore. Not until a solution is found. I hope you can understand."

"Mom, you can't go. We'll find Merlin soon. We'll fix this and everything will be okay."

"And what if it's not? What if Merlin can't do a thing? Every moment I stay here, the closer I am to just letting the darkness take over. It would be easier for me to just give in." Emma was almost shouting at him. It was so easy for her to get angry these days.

"He will be able to help. And even if he doesn't, we'll find another way." Henry said calmly.

Emma sighed. "Leaving town would give us more time to find something. It would give me more time. Henry I have to go."

"Okay. Fine. But I'm going with you." Henry declared, heading to the other side of the car to get into the passenger seat.

"Wait! Kid, no. You can't come. You have to stay here. Storybrooke is where you belong." Emma looked at him, as his eyes met hers over the car.

"It's where you belong too. But if you have to leave, I'm not going to let you be alone." Henry opened the door and slid into the car, and shut the door softly behind him. Emma got into the driver's seat, started the car and looked over at Henry's determined face.

"Are you sure, Henry?"

"Of course I am."

"Okay. Buckle up."


	2. Chapter 1

Chapter 1

 _Three years later_

"Hey Mom. I'm heading to the library for a couple hours." Henry said as he passed Emma on his way to the door.

"I don't know what other information on Merlin you think you'll find there." Emma said, glancing up briefly from the hot cocoa she was brewing.

"You know I'm not just looking up Merlin, Mom. I'm looking up any information about real magic in our world. I mean not including Storybrooke, of course." Henry said with a hint of humor in his voice. "I mean you have the occasional magic flare up. There has to be a reason. And if I find a link to Merlin there than that would just be a happy coincidence."

"I can't control those. You know that."

"Not that you try. But still. I'm thinking maybe Merlin was powerful enough to use magic in this realm too. Maybe that's a key somehow." Henry supposed.

"Yeah maybe." Emma shrugged it off. She'd heard it all before. It really did interest her, but she was way too tired to engage.

"Did you email Grandpa the new information from our notebook?" Henry asked, as he put his coat on, and picked up said notebook off the counter.

"Yeah a week ago." Emma replied.

"Did he say how everyone was doing?"

"I didn't really ask for details, but he said they were all doing okay."

"Did he mention if they were closer than we were on finding a solution?"

"He said they were still searching through those notes of the apprentice's. It mentions the origin of the Dark One, but as far as they can tell, the only way to keep in contained is by keeping it tethered." Emma explained. She'd mentioned this all to him before. But he still liked to hear updates, even if they were non updates so to speak.

"Well there is a way. And we will find it." Henry was sixteen now, but he still had that unwavering faith. It always gave Emma just a little bit of hope, even if it was against her will most of the time.

Smiling at him she replied with a, "Yes. We will."

Henry smiled wide, before heading out the door. Emma sighed and headed to the couch. Checking her phone, she saw that it was two o'clock. That gave her an hour of peace. She could either sit and enjoy the quiet by reading through some of hers and Henry's notes again, or taking a nap.

Sighing she grabbed one of their old notebooks and started flipping through pages, thinking maybe some of it would start to make sense to her, and formulate a plan of some sort. They had filled out so many notebooks of information over the years, and Emma had lost count of the times she's read over every bit of information stored in them.

As comfortable as her life had been over the last three years, she was still desperately trying to find a way to get back to her old one. She missed everything about Storybrooke, her home. She missed Granny's in the morning. She missed being the sheriff. She missed her parents. Most of all, she missed him. Killian. She missed their lazy mornings, their talks by the docks. Mostly she just missed his presence, just the reassurance that he wouldn't leave. He was one of the only things that made her feel like herself after she had become the Dark One. But she had just left him.

Being so sleep deprived didn't help her situation at all. As she flipped through each page, the words blurred together from her exhaustion and desperation. Just as she was thinking that maybe a nap would probably be the better thing to do, there was a knock on the door.

Looking at it puzzled, she tried to think of who it could be. Henry had a key to their place, so it wouldn't be him. Besides, he wouldn't be here just yet. She didn't expect him until at least past dinner.

There was another knock, more forceful this time. Standing up, she sat the notebook on the coffee table beside her cocoa. She walked to the door quickly and opened it.

"Emma! Oh Emma!"

Before she knew it, she was being pulled into a tight hug; one that she very hurriedly returned.

"Dad? What…? How did you find me?" Emma managed to stutter through both her shock, and tears that were threatening to spill any moment.

"Our family always finds each other." She could tell he was crying. Hearing his tears made her own fall and she held him tighter

"Oh Emma, I missed you so much." David finally said as his sobs evened a little.

"I missed you too." Emma answered back, finally letting go of her father. She looked into his eyes that were still red with tears. "But how… I was so careful not to give away where we were."

"Yeah I know. That's why it took me so long to track you down. In the end it wasn't that hard to track you down. You didn't even leave the state. I don't know why it took me so long in the first place." David was explaining it all, while Emma led him into the living room. "Where's Henry?"

"The library."

Looking around he smiled sadly, "You seem to have made a nice home without us though."

"No! I mean, it's a comfortable place to stay. But it's not home." Emma said, sitting down on the couch. David sat by her.

After a few moments of silence Emma spoke. "Dad, I can't go back home. I can't until we have a plan of some sort…"

"We do. Of some sort." David cut her off.

"What?" Emma asked.

"It's not so much to go on. But it's a start. Look I didn't tell anyone about our emails like I promised. Nor did I tell anyone that I was coming to get you. Because I don't know if you'll be on board or not, and I didn't want to give anyone false hope of you coming back."

Emma stiffened at his words, "Well, what did you find out?"

"Well in the apprentice's notes, he stated that Merlin couldn't get rid of the Dark One himself. It took a Magic that was more powerful than him."

"And what was it."

"Love." David said simply.

"You mean True Love's kiss or something? That didn't work. Remember?" Emma stood up, taking her now cold cocoa to the kitchen and dumping it in the sink.

"I know. But maybe there's an act of true love that is more powerful that a true love's kiss. That's what we have to figure out. And to do that, we need you home." David followed her.

"An act of true love more powerful than a kiss? You mean sex or something? That didn't work either." Emma said, looking away from him.

"What? No… I mean… what do you mean?"

"With Killian. It didn't work. Or maybe he's not my true love, and I should start looking elsewhere." Emma could feel her temper rising up. She had a painful knot in her stomach, and felt on the verge of crying again.

"Emma I didn't mean to insinuate… I didn't know that you two were… I mean that's not what I mean by another act." Emma turned around to face him, her arms folded, hugging herself. "I just meant we needed to find something else. I'm sure you two were… are… I mean I know you truly loved him, I mean love. And I know he feels the same." David was avoiding her eyes. Emma could tell that this was an awkward situation for him.

"How is he?" Emma asked quietly.

"Honestly, not good. I mean he's heartbroken, Emma. You left without saying anything. To him. To any of us."

"I wrote him a note." Emma said, turning around and starting to clean her mug.

"He misses you. We all do." David said softly. Emma nodded. "Why didn't you say goodbye at least. We all would've understood?"

"I knew that if I did, I wouldn't have been able to bring myself to leave." Emma dried the mug and put it away, avoiding David's eye the best she could.

"Was it really that bad?" David asked.

"I felt like I was going crazy." Emma looked at him then. He could see the understanding in his eyes. "Thank you for being so understanding. And helping us out. Keeping contact and everything."

David nodded. Emma smiled. They sat like that for a few moments; then there was a soft cry from down the hall. Emma groaned softly, looking at the clock. It was only two- thirty.

"Why so early, Eva?"

"What's that?" David asked shocked, looking into the direction of the noise.

"It's my… Eva. One second. I'll be right back." Emma walked past him, down the hall and opened up the door to the nursery.

Eva was standing up, rubbing her eyes. "Mamma!" She whined. Her black hair was plastered to her face a neck from sweating in her sleep. Emma picked up her daughter gently, and brushed her hair from her face.

"Why are you awake so early, Lovey?" Emma asked softly.

Eva just grumbled in gibberish. Emma smiled sweetly at her.

"I have someone for you to meet." Emma said, as she walked out of the room.

"Some un a meet?" Eva asked her.

Emma reached the kitchen again, looking at David. He had an unreadable expression on his face.

"Uh Dad, this is Eva. Eva, this is your grandpa." David had tears in his eyes again while he looked at them both. Slowly he reached his hand and gently brushed Eva's face. Stubbornly, she turned her face away, and laid her head on Emma's shoulder. "Sorry. She's a tad bit grouchy when she wakes up."

"She's beautiful Emma."

"Yeah."

"She looks like him."

"Yeah." Emma smiled sadly. "I know."

"You never mentioned…" David trailed off.

"I know. I knew that you'd come looking. Probably tearing through the whole world looking. Both of you. You and Killian." Emma said. Eva lifted her head from Emma's shoulder and started playing with her necklace.

"You've got that right." David said, raising his voice slightly.

"Mamma. Me watch a pirate show?" Eva asked.

"Sure sweaty." Eva scrambled down from Emma's arms, grabbed her hand and pulled her to the living room. Emma quickly turned on the TV, feeling David's look behind her. Quickly turning on Pirates of the Caribbean, she walked back to the kitchen, while Eva settled herself onto the couch, sticking her thumb in her mouth.

"She loves Jack Sparrow." Emma explained, looked back at her daughter fondly.

"Fitting." David said with a smile.

"Henry couldn't help himself. He's gotten her obsessed with anything pirate related."

Emma looked back at him. "Look, I know what you're thinking. I should have told you. I should have let Killian know. But I couldn't. I didn't want to put her in danger too. I know how protective of Neal you and Mom were. I understand it all. It was safer for me to keep her here, where the Dark One is kept at bay. You have to understand that." Emma pleaded.

David stood quietly for a few minutes. They both sat their listening to the movie for a bit. Eva started singing with her thumb in her mouth, "Oh ho. Oh ho. Pirate's life a me!"

"Did you know before you left?" David asked.

Emma shook her head. "I don't think I would've been able to bring myself to leave if I did. I didn't want to make her grow up without her whole family. The whole situation sucks."

"Yeah I agree. Her and Neal will probably get along really well." David said smiling.

"Yeah?"

"Yeah. I can see a little bit of a resemblance. They both have that dark hair for starters. But her eyes… You can tell where she came from."


	3. Chapter 2

Chapter two

Emma and David sat talking until the movie ended. Eva now had a ton of energy from the movie. She never was scared of it. She was now running around the house with a fake sword, pretending to fight with other pirates.

Running into the kitchen she shouted, "ARRRGGG! Ahoy mateys!"

"Hey slow down!" Emma laughed. "Are you ready for some food?"

"Yesss!" Eva said with a huge grin.

"Here. Let me whip you up something." Emma said, grabbing her, and putting her into her highchair. "She watches all these pirate shows. And she's caught onto some of the lingo." Emma explained to David.

David laughed, "Well, Killian will be proud of her."

Emma's smile faltered a little before replying, "Yeah. I hope so."

Before David could answer, the door opened, and Henry came in saying, "I couldn't really find anything today. Although I have to say, the library in Storybrooke would probably be more…" Stopping when he saw David, his face broke out into a huge grin. "Grandpa? What are you doing here?"

David stood up to give Henry a hug. Emma noticed they were almost the same height now.

"Wow. You've grown." David exclaimed.

"Yeah. How did you find us?" Henry asked.

"It wasn't so hard once I found out you hadn't even left the state. Once I found you were right here in Augusta, I drove straight here." David said.

"We wanted to stay as close as possible."

"Henny!" Eva exclaimed from her highchair.

"Hey Eva!" Henry leaned over to kiss her on the head, as Emma put some soup in front of her.

"So did you find a way to help Mom?" Henry asked David.

"Close. We found out that the only magic strong enough to defeat it is love. We just don't know how, seeing as true love's kiss didn't work with you or Hook." David stated.

"Well then we'll have to find something else." Henry said, getting himself some food and sitting down at the table. "Any ideas?"

"Not really." David admitted.

"Well we'll try to think of things, and you can try at home. And we'll come when we do." Henry said.

"Well I was hoping you guys would come home with me now." David suggested.

Henry looked at Emma for confirmation. "You want to go back?"

"Maybe it would be easier to find a solution there than here." Emma said.

"But Mom. That's dangerous. What about Eva?" Henry was looking back and forth between David and Emma. "You don't want her to see you go through that. You could get out of control. She would be scared of you. She's too young to understand."

"I would never hurt her, or you." Emma whispered more to herself than anyone else.

"I know. But that's the reason we didn't go back before now right? That's what you said."

"But it shouldn't be long now. We'll figure it out soon." David said reassuringly.

"Maybe you can go ahead Mom. Just for a few days. Then I could bring her. That way you would have more of an idea what it will take." Henry suggested.

David looked at Emma. She turned around looking at Eva making a mess of her food.

"I don't want to just leave her…" Emma started.

"Just for a few days. Just as a trial to see how you feel once your back. I can handle things here. Its summer so there's no school. I can take care of her. I'm capable." Henry said.

"I know you are. I just feel uneasy leaving her." Emma said softly.

"Emma, the faster we get rid of this curse, the sooner we can all be together. As a family." David said gently.

"Okay. But only a few days."

* * *

Emma finished packing her suitcase, and headed back to the kitchen. David was taking with Eva, asking her all kinds of questions, which she was answering quite rambunctiously.

"Well, she warmed up to you fast." Emma noted.

"Well what can I say? Your Mom calls me Charming for a reason." David said proudly. Emma rolled her eyes.

"Here's my bag. You can take it down to your truck. I'll be right there." David took it from her. After saying a quick goodbye to Henry, he left out the door.

"Okay Henry. You call me if you want me to come home. Or if you feel like you want to come to Storybrooke. Here are the keys to the bug. It's only a two hour drive. So if you feel overwhelmed or anything…"

"Mom we'll be fine." Henry rolled his eyes at her.

"I know. See you in few days." Emma said hugging him.

"We'll facetime you every night." Henry promised.

"You better." Getting down on her knees, she held Eva's arm, and then stroked her face softly. "Be a good girl for Henry, okay?"

"Kay." Eva sniffed.

"I'll see you in a couple days."

"Couple days." Eva repeated.

"Yep. I love you." Emma said getting up. Henry picked Eva up. Kissing Henry's head then Eva's, Emma turned around and walked to the door, waving at them as she opened it. "I'll call you when we get there, okay?"

"Okay. Love you Mom." Henry answered.

"Love you Mamma." Eva echoed.

Emma walked out, and headed down. When she got outside, David parked right by the front door of her building. Emma got in the car, and looked back at the building.

"They'll be fine." David said gently, putting his hand on her shoulder and squeezing gently.

"I know." Emma said. David started driving. "I'm nervous about more than them."

"We're going to get rid of this soon. Then things can get back to how they were. You can be happy." David stated.

"Hmm. I'm not unhappy."

"Of course not. But we'll get things back to the way they should be. And then you won't have to deal with this weight anymore."

 _I doubt that_ , Emma thought to herself. There was always something. Even being the savior had its own weight.

The two hour drive was quite pleasant, but the looming dread Emma felt as they got closer to Storybrooke stopped her from saying too much. David rambled on about Neal on the way, talking about how much he's grown. Emma could tell that David was proud of his boy. She understood where he was coming from, feeling the same way about Eva. She was grateful that they both got second chances at being parents. She had missed out on raising Henry as a baby, and David had missed out on raising her.

Finally they reached the town line. Or at least where it should've been. David stopped the car, and reached into the glove compartment. He pulled a scroll out that Emma recognized as Ingrid's.

"I had to steal this from Regina." David laughed.

"Oh I'll bet she'll have something to say to you." Emma said sarcastically.

"Well, I just mean I had to sneak it because I didn't tell anyone I was leaving." David explained.

"Speaking of which. Where does Mom think you are? It's eight pm. You've been gone all day."

"I didn't say anything. So she's probably sending out the search parties as we speak." David assumed.

"Oh she's not going to be happy with you." Emma laughed.

"Well I'm hoping having you here will help her forgive me faster." David admitted.

Emma laughed softly. David looked down at the scroll reading it quickly. Then he handed it to Emma while he put the car back in drive and started pulling over the line.

"Stop!" Emma exclaimed. David looked at her. "I'm going to get out. You drive over first. I'm going to walk over."

"Why?" David asked.

"The last time… when it first happened… The light magic started rejecting the darkness instantly." Emma said apprehensively. "If it happens that way again, I don't think it would be safe for me to be in a car."

"Okay. I'll be right here for you… to help you through it."

Emma nodded, and got out of the truck. David drove over the line, Emma watched the truck disappear. Swallowing nervously, she looked at the scroll in her hand and read it hurriedly. Looking up she saw that her dad had parked the truck and was getting out.

Walking forward until she was right by the line, she looked up at David. He walked over to her, barely a foot away. "It's okay. I'm right here for you."

Emma held her breath and took the last step. Instantly she felt it. Her head felt like it was about to split in two, like there were two sides of her battling for control, trying to snuff the otherside out.

Crying in pain she fell forward onto the pavement. David was right there, catching her and setting her down softly. She shoved him away from her. One side not wanting him near, and the other side worried what she would do.

When he came back and tried to help her up, she shoved him back with her magic, hard. He flew back and landed hard on the side of the road. Emma looked up and saw him stirring. Stumbling up onto her knees, she tried crawling after him, trying to call for him, but her head started pounding harder.

Throwing her face into her hands she started to scream in pain. The war was raging again. She tried to think back on how she handled it before, but she couldn't think straight. She felt a hand on her shoulder, and harshly grabbed it. Looking up she saw that it was David.

"I didn't mean…" She tried to start again, but the pain worsened as she tried to speak. "You need to… stay… away from me."

"Shhh. Emma. Just listen." He was kneeling by her. He grabbed her by her shoulders, forcing her to look at him. "It's going to be fine. Just push the darkness down again. Try to get control over it like you did last time."

"I…I can't…"

"Last time you were by yourself, but you said you got control by thinking about the people you loved. Remember?" David said soothingly.

"I don't… It won't stop."

"Emma, think about Henry. Think about Eva. Think about how much you love them. Push the darkness down." David sat there with Emma. First she sat there shaking her head softly, but then she started taking deep breaths until her breathing got steadier. Letting go of David finally, she started rubbing her temple.

"The headache is just as bad as I remember." She said softly.

"It will get easier. Just think about things that you love. Don't think about the darkness."

"It's always there."

"But you don't have to let it win."

Emma looked at him. He could see her eyes had darkened. They weren't the soft green anymore; the light was almost gone from them. It was how she looked last time. Proof of the Dark One taking root inside her.

"Where's the dagger?" She asked softly.

"It's still in your drawer. Where you left it last time. We haven't touched it. We just keep watch over it." David said reassuringly.

"I need it back." Emma whispered.

"Of course."

Emma nodded, and stood up. David stood up with her pulling her into a hug. Cradling her head he whispered, "It will all be over soon."

"I'm not so sure, but we'll see." Emma uttered.


	4. Chapter 3

Chapter Three

They both got back into the truck. David started up the engine again, looking at Emma briefly before driving. They didn't say anything until they drove into town.

"Happy to be home?" David asked, trying to be cheerful. Emma didn't answer him. Happy wasn't what she was feeling at all. Sick, Anxious, tired, maybe even powerful. Not happy. She could feel the sparks of her magic just beneath her fingertips. She would be lying if she said it didn't feel great. The power made her feel invincible in a way. But the headache she had made her want to go to bed and never get up. Not to mention how nervous she felt to be seeing everyone, and having to explain to certain people… certain things.

Pulling up to Granny's, David parked and turned the car off. Emma could see through the window that many people were still there. Remembering all the times they had a celebration there, Emma felt a feeling of longing take root in her.

"Are you ready?" David interrupted her thoughts.

"Not really. But I suppose I'm as ready as I'll ever be." Emma sighed. She really didn't want to do this. She didn't want to see all these people at once.

"It's going to be alright." David tried to reassure her.

"I'm not sure that's true. We might as well get it out of the way though. This is pretty unavoidable"

David got out of the car, and walked around to Emma's side. Opening the door for her, Emma looked at him and could tell he felt nervous too. For a moment Emma almost laughed. Of course he'd be a little scared of what Snow was going to do to him since he'd been gone all day.

Emma got out of the car and led the way to the door. She opened it slowly, and they both walked inside. The whole room was buzzing with conversation, but as soon as they stepped inside, it collectively came to a halt. Emma closed the door behind David, avoiding eye contact from anyone in the room. She didn't want to see who was here.

"Emma?" It was Snow. She was over to them in the blink of an eye. Snow pulled Emma into a tight hug. First Emma held back a bit, but then she was hugging her back just as tight. She forgot how good it felt to hug her mom. Snow broke the hug, and held Emma's face. "You're back?"

"Yes."

"Oh I missed you so much!" Snow was hugging her again.

"I missed you too Mom." Emma said softly.

"Sorry to interrupt a tear soaked reunion, but I have a question." Emma broke her hug and looked up to see Regina walking slowly towards her. There was no hint of welcome or happiness in her eyes. Emma understood why, but she really didn't want to fight right now.

"What do you want to know?" Emma said with a little harshness to her voice.

"Where's Henry?" Regina asked looking behind Emma at the door, perhaps hoping he was about to come inside.

"He's not here." Emma said plainly.

"You mean not here as in Granny's or not here as in Storybrooke?" Regina asked. Her voice was taking on a threatening tone now, which spiked Emma's anger.

"He's not in Storybrooke. We left him behind." David answered. Emma was grateful. She knew where this conversation would head if she kept it up.

"May I ask why? Why you seem to be trying to keep my son away from me?" Regina walked right up to Emma.

"Don't test me right now Regina. I'm not in the mood." Emma threatened.

"How am I testing you? I'm asking a question. You take my son away without telling me, and then don't even let him communicate with me or anyone else. I'm allowed to be angry." Regina was on the verge of yelling.

Emma raised one hand in front of her, "Don't start with me, Regina. You tore my family apart. You're the reason I had to grow up without my parents. You tried to convince my son that he was crazy for believing what you did. You don't have a right to anything. I didn't take Henry away from you to keep him from you. He came with me of his own free will. He asked to come with me. I owe you no explanations."

"Emma, stop." Snow said sharply. Emma lowered her hand, glaring at Regina.

"Henry asked to be left behind." David explained softly to Regina.

"I'm sorry Regina." Emma apologized, realizing that there was no point in letting her anger get the best of her. "I know you just miss your son, but he'll be here in a few days."

"You're sorry now?" Regina laughed. Emma felt angry flare up again. She knew the best way to deal with this was to remove herself from the situation.

"I'm going." Emma said to David. "It was a bad idea to come here."

"Emma, no. Don't leave." Snow's voice was almost hysterical.

"I didn't mean leave…leave. I just meant here. Granny's." Emma said in what she hoped was a reassuring tone.

She turned her back and was about to open the door when she heard someone call her, "Swan?"

Emma's breath hitched. Turning back around, she found Killian staring at her from across the room. He had just come from the other entrance. Emma looked around. Everyone was staring at both her and him, waiting for something to happen.

 _Why did this need to happen here of all places?_

Emma stared at him, stunned for a moment; then started walking towards him, pushing past Regina on her way. Finally reaching him, she stopped at a safe distance and looked at the floor awkwardly.

"I'm sorry, Killian." It was the only thing she could say. She was still aware of everyone staring at them. Killian looked around briefly before he looked at her. His eyes. Just like Eva's.

"Where were you?" He asked softly. Emma noticed he was trying to talk quiet so that no one could hear, but it was way too quiet in the diner. Everyone was hanging onto every word.

"A couple hours out of town. I wanted to stay close." She answered. She really wished they could alone for this, but she didn't want to raise suspicion by asking for a word outside. Besides, everyone would know sooner or later.

Killian nodded his head. Looking around again he asked, "Where's your boy?"

"Something I would like to know myself." Regina muttered behind her.

"He asked to stay behind."

"Why?" Killian asked.

"Because he was…he didn't want…" Oh, God. This was so hard. She couldn't find the words Taking a deep breath she looked into his eyes. She could see so much hurt in them, so much pain that she had caused. And it was about to get worse. So much worse.

She tore her eyes away from him and scanned the room again. Seated in one of the booths was a boy about three years old with black hair and grey eyes. Neal. He was looking straight at her with a bit of confusion on his face.

Tearing her eyes away from her brother, she looked back up at Killian. "He wanted to wait until I got a grasp of the darkness; to wait and make sure that I wasn't going to be too dangerous. Give me time to come up with a way to get rid of this before…he came."

"Was he afraid you would hurt him?" She heard her mother ask from behind her. She glanced over and saw her mother walk over and pick up Neal. The sight made her wish she had her own little one to cling to.

"No. He just wanted to make sure…" She paused for just a second "that my daughter didn't have to see me like this."

She closed her eyes. Everyone was talking again. Why did this have to be so dramatic? Opening her eyes once again, she saw Killian's face fall. She could hear Snow gasp behind her.

"Your daughter, Swan?" Killian asked, trying to smile. "You found someone else."

Emma stared at him, her mouth opening slightly.

"No! Your daughter." Emma said quickly. "Ours."

Killian stepped back in shock. Emma couldn't think of anything else to say. Everyone was quiet again.

"She's beautiful, Killian." David said.

"She looks just like you. Here." Emma reached into her pocket for her wallet. She opened it and pulled out a picture. She handed it out to him, and he took it. She noticed his hands were shaking slightly.

He sat there looking at the picture for a moment before Snow came over apprehensively. "Can I see?"

"Oh here. I have a ton on my phone." Emma said, handing her phone to her mother. A whole crowd of people gathered around Snow's shoulder looking over, as Snow swiped through the photos.

"She's gorgeous, Emma." Snow whispered tearfully.

Emma looked back at Killian staring at the picture. Finally he looked back at her. He looked like he was about to say something, but then he walked past her and headed out the door. Emma followed him quickly. Getting back outside, she started running towards him.

"Killian, wait!" She didn't really expect him to stop, but he did. He turned around to face her again quickly, and Emma almost bumped into him.

"Wait? Haven't I waited for you long enough, Emma?" He was holding back tears. Emma's heart broke for him. "You left! You turned off your bloody phone so I couldn't get in touch with you. And this whole time, you had… you had a child? Our child? And you didn't think it was import enough to let me know?"

"I know! I know alright!" Emma shouted over him. "I'm a horrible person. I get it."

"Why? If you had to leave, why didn't you let me come with you? You know all I've ever wanted was to be with you. Did you find out you were expecting, and just rush to get away from me?"

"No." Emma stated plainly. "I didn't know before I left."

"Why didn't you tell me after? Why did you stay away?" A tear escaped down his cheek. Emma realized she had never actually seen him cry, and she was the cause of it.

 _Because I'm a monster,_ she thought to herself. After a minute of silence between them, she spoke again.

"Listen. I don't expect you to forgive me. I know what I did is unforgivable." Emma said, walking closer to him. She reached down and held his hand. "But I would like for you to get to know her. Eva. I want you to be a part of her life. If you want to be."

"Of course." Emma felt him squeeze her hand gently. Lifting the picture back up, he stared at it again for a second. "Can I keep this?"

"Yes. Yes you can." Emma let go of his hand and stepped back. "I never stopped loving you. Please know that. I truly am sorry, Killian."

Killian nodded at her but didn't answer. Emma turned around and started walking away. She figured she would walk back to the loft for now, not wanting to go back into Granny's. Her head was pounding with every step she took. She couldn't bring herself to look behind her to see if Killian was still there.

Killian looked after her for a while, before sighing and putting the picture of Eva into his pocket. Turning around in the other direction, he walked towards the docks; his favorite place to process through his thoughts.

She hadn't answered his question. She always found a way around these sorts of things. He figured being the Dark One didn't exactly help her in opening up to him. Maybe he should just resign himself to never understanding why she would leave him. It didn't make it hurt any less. Glancing back briefly, he saw her outline disappear into the night.

 **A/N**

 **I Just wanted to thank everyone for following and reviewing. The feedback has been amazing. 3**


	5. Chapter 4

Chapter Four

Emma walked up the steps until she reached the door to the loft. She reached into her pocket for the key, pulling it out with a shaky hand. She'd kept it all those years. Holding onto it gave her hope that she could always return home.

Putting the key into the lock and turning it, she opened the door. She noticed that it looked almost exactly the same as the day she left. Instead of feeling her with warmth though, she felt cold; almost like she was an intruder somehow.

Looking around a little more, she noticed that Neal's crib was gone. That was the only thing different. Obviously he didn't need it anymore. Emma looked around, trying to spot a small bed, but she couldn't find one.

Smiling sadly to herself, she looked upstairs. Her room had now become his. The thought made her sad, not because she felt replaced, but because she had missed out. She had missed out on Neal growing up, and her parents had missed out on Eva. _It's all because of me._

Walking upstairs, she entered Neal's little nursery. It was decorated with horses. Everywhere, the comforter on his bed, the pictures on the wall, little horse figurines on the dressers. In the far corner she saw the dresser that was once hers. It was still the same as she left it. The picture of her and Henry still was on top of it, and her ship model.

Glancing at it briefly, she tore her eyes away from it, instead opening the top drawer. Inside there were extra sheets for Neal's bed. Underneath all those, Emma pulled out the dagger. Her dagger. Tracing her name softly, she smiled. Finally the feeling of emptiness, of fear, started to dwindle. She felt so much more secure, safer than she had since she entered town. Her headache stopped hurting so much, and she was able to relax.

Putting the dagger into her jacket pocket, she headed back downstairs. She didn't belong here anymore. Her parents didn't need their grown daughter to stay with them; the apartment was way too small. Once Henry brought Eva, there definitely would be no room what so ever.

Considering for a moment going back to Granny's and asking for a room, Emma slunk to the couch. She didn't want to be anywhere near people right now. Figuring she'd rent out a room tomorrow, she lay down on the couch. Closing her eyes, she thought about the day's events. This morning she hadn't even considered the possibility of being in Storybrooke so soon. Yet here she was, home.

 _But you're not home. You don't live here anymore._

Emma pushed the thought away. Her parents would have no problem with her crashing on the couch for one night. Emma lay staring at the celling for a while before she dozed off.

* * *

Snow walked into the apartment, looking around for Emma. Seeing her asleep on the couch, she smiled widely. She walked over to the couch; sitting on the end, looking into Emma's sleeping face.

It felt so nice having her daughter back. Asleep, Emma looked peaceful and free from any burden. Snow knew that Emma had so much going on at the moment, but it was nice to sit here and pretend for a little while that everything was fine.

Even in sleep, Emma seemed to sense that someone was there watching her, because she woke up a few minutes later. She sat up startled, and looked at Snow. Realizing who it was, she sighed in relief.

"Sorry Mom. You scared me." Emma said groggily.

"I didn't mean to wake you." Snow said apologetically. "It's so nice to have you home, Emma."

"It's good to be back." Emma replied. Snow nodded happily.

"I always knew you'd come back, but I'd be lying if some days I lost hope." Snow said sadly.

"I didn't want to hurt you like that, Mom. I just didn't want you to have to deal with this more than you needed to. You had a baby, and I was the Dark One living with you. Sometimes I lost control, and I didn't want you to be afraid of me hurting Neal." Emma explained.

"I understand why you left Emma. I just don't understand why you didn't stay in touch."

"I just… I didn't want anyone to come after me." Emma's voice was barely over a whisper.

"Why not? If you needed to stay away, we still could've come to visit." Snow said sadly.

"I didn't want to be a burden. I didn't want to make everyone leave their home." Emma avoided Snow's gaze. "I did email Dad a little though. I didn't let Henry because I didn't want to risk him giving away where we were. Don't be mad at him, I told him not to tell. I just wanted to know if we were any closer to getting rid of this damn curse."

"So that's how he figured out how to get to you?" Snow said to herself. "And left to get you without letting me know."

"It was hard for me to leave. I didn't want to make that decision for everyone."

"You mean Hook?" Snow asked. Emma's eyes met Snow's instantly. "You know that his home is wherever you are? He told us that many times over the last three years."

"I meant everyone." Emma said quickly. Realizing Emma didn't want to be pushed, Snow dropped the subject.

Reaching into her pocket, Snow pulled out Emma's phone and handed it to her. "Henry texted earlier. I texted back that you were here safely."

Emma took the phone, unlocked it and checked the text. "I told him I'd call him." Emma groaned. "I'm the worst mother alive. Eva's probably asleep already."

"Just call him now."

Emma nodded. Pulling up Henry's number, she called him.

"Hey, Mom."

"Hey Henry. How is everything going?"

"Pretty good. Eva had a hard time going to bed. She kept asking about you. But it wasn't too big of a deal. She fell asleep eventually."

"Thank you so much Henry. I miss you. Both of you."

"We miss you too Mom. It's only a few days though." Henry sounded so positive. The sound of his voice always made Emma feel better. "So did you tell Killian?"

"Yes." Emma sighed, looking at Snow. Snow got up and went to the kitchen to make some hot cocoa.

"How did he take it?" Henry asked.

"As expected." Emma replied. "But he says she wants to get to know her."

"Cool. Did you see my mom?"

"Yeah."

"Was she mad?"

"Not at you. She's furious with me though." Emma sighed.

"Well tell her I love her, and I'll be there in a few days."

"Alright. I will."

"Love you Mom."

"Love you too, kid. Bye."

"Bye."

Emma hung up the phone and joined Snow it the kitchen. Snow handed her a mug of hot cocoa with cinnamon. Emma took it appreciatively. The door opened, and David walked in with a sleeping Neal on his shoulder. Giving Snow and Emma a nod, he walked up the stairs to put Neal to bed.

"Hey Mom, is it okay if I crash on the couch tonight? I'll find a room at Granny's tomorrow." Emma asked.

"Of course Emma! You don't need to ask." Snow said enthusiastically.

David walked down the stairs, and came into the kitchen to join them.

"So… how mad are you?" David asked Snow.

"For what?" Snow tested.

"For leaving all day without telling you where I was." David responded.

"Well, I was worried sick. I almost had the whole town going out to look for you when you two showed up at the diner."

"I'm sorry Snow. I just didn't want to get your hopes up if Emma decided not to come." David explained.

"I was wondering how we were going to get her the information we found. Emma told me that you two were emailing each other." Snow disclosed.

"Dad told me what you found." Emma said.

"What do you think?" Snow asked her.

"I think it's a stretch, but it's something to go off." Emma responded.

"So, you're not mad." David asked.

"Well, I guess since you brought Emma home, I can't be."

David and Emma smiled at each other. Emma picked up her mug of cocoa, taking a sip.

"Tomorrow we can start getting into all of that." David stated softly. "But for now, I'm just glad that we have you back with us, Emma."

"Yes." Emma agreed. "It will be better when I have my kids here too though."

Snow nodded in agreement. "I miss Henry so much. And I can't wait to meet Eva."

"She really is something." David smiled. "I can't wait to get her and Neal together to play."

"I can't wait to get to know Neal more." Emma stated softly. "He's so big now."

"We told him all about you. He knows he has a big sister that loves him." Snow answered fondly. "And Henry must be so grown up now."

"He's practically a man." David sighed. Emma nodded in agreement, feeling awful that her parents had to miss out on so much because of her cowardice.

Emma sat up talking and catching up with her parents for a couple hours, before all three got too tired to carry on a discussion. David and Snow headed to bed. Emma lay on the couch again, using magic to change into some of her pajamas. She left her suitcase in the truck and really didn't want to go down and get it. Magic had its perks after all.

As she lay on the couch, she folded her dagger in a rag, and held it while she fell asleep.


	6. Chapter 5

Chapter 5

Emma woke early the next morning. Sitting up on the couch, she scanned the room. Her parents were still asleep. So was Neal. Looking at her phone, she saw that it was 6:30. Eva always woke up at this time, so Emma was programmed to wake up as well.

Groaning softly, she silently cursed her parents for being lucky to have a kid that slept later. Obviously the early rising didn't come from her side of the family, and Emma made a metal note to thank Killian for passing it on.

Emma considered just falling back asleep for a couple hours, but she figured getting an early start to the day wouldn't be such a bad idea. She did need to rent out a room form Granny, and get settled there.

Her dagger was still in her hand. She got up, and unfolded it slowly. Looking at it, she thought about how much of a burden it was to her. Yet, holding it… she felt an almost elated feeling. It was a burden, but she couldn't help feeling safe. She was immortal and powerful. She could protect everyone around her from anything. But those thoughts were dangerous. Those kinds of thoughts always led somewhere bad. Those are the sort of thoughts that caused her to run away before.

Getting dressed in a puff of magic smoke, Emma smiled at how fast it was to get ready with magic. She put the dagger back into her inside pocket, and tiptoed out the door, and closed the door softly.

She decided to walk to Granny's instead of poof herself. Walking through town in the early morning seemed almost heavenly. She could spend as much time as she wanted savoring how great it was to be back.

She walked out into the fresh air. It was early enough that there weren't many people out and about yet. It was a little chilly, but nothing that bothered Emma at all. As she made her way down the street to Granny's, she looked around at the town, taking note of how everything was the same as when she's left.

Emma made it to Granny's Bed and Breakfast, and walked in. She found Ruby and Granny coming downstairs, getting ready to go to the diner to open. Ruby smiled brightly at Emma, and rushed over to her.

"Gosh it's great to see you! For a while there, I thought you weren't coming back." Ruby said, hugging Emma.

"Yeah. You completely disappeared from the grid!" Granny said, a little less enthusiastic Emma noticed. Emma realized that even Granny was hurt by her leaving.

"I'm back now." Emma replied.

"So you are." Granny nodded.

"We totally wanted to talk to you yesterday, but you seemed to have more important people that you needed to catch up with!" Ruby exclaimed.

"Your daughter is absolutely breath taking." Granny said softly.

"Thanks." Emma said softly.

"Well obviously. I mean look at Killian. That's basically a genetic goldmine!" Ruby pronounced.

Emma pushed her hair behind her ear awkwardly in response. Granny sensed her awkwardness and changed the subject.

"So how can we help you today?"

"Um, I wanted a room. I can't exactly stay with my parents. Especially when Eva and Henry get here." Emma said.

"Of course." Granny replied. Setting her up with a room quickly, she handed Emma the key. "Same room we set you up with when you first got here. I trust you can find it yourself, me and Ruby do need to get going."

"Of course I can. Thank you so much." Emma said, taking the key from her.

"See you later." Ruby said, waving. Then Ruby and Granny headed out to the diner.

Emma walked up the stairs, finding her room quickly. She then used magic to get her belongings there from David's truck. She didn't bother unpacking, but she lay on the bed for a few minutes, staring at the ceiling. It felt weird having time to just lounge around. She hadn't really had much time since Eva was born. It was nice, but it also made her miss her baby.

Checking her phone again, she saw that it was a quarter to eight. Figuring it would be a good time to go have breakfast at the diner; she sat up and headed out the door. It didn't take long until she was there. She noticed it was a bit early, so there wasn't a big rush. There were only a couple people.

She instantly saw Killian, sitting at the bar with some scrambled eggs in front of him. He didn't seem to be eating them though. He just kept twirling his fork around through them, not really focusing. Taking a deep breath, Emma walked towards him, and sat down next to him.

He didn't look up at her, even after Emma ordered. Ruby smiled and walked away slowly, perhaps not wanting to miss out on a conversation they might have. Killian looked at Ruby briefly, a small smile appearing on his face. He shook his head slightly. Ruby came back after a few minutes, handing Emma her plate, then wandered off again to help other costumers.

Killian looked up at her, finally. She tried not to avert her gaze. It was so hard looking at him, seeing all the pain she had caused, but she forced herself to keep eye contact. She owed that to him at least, to be here and not run away again.

Killian just looked at her for a few minutes, finally saying, "Good morning."

"Is it?" Emma looked away, and instead focused on her breakfast.

"I've found it to be adequate. There was really no point in me pretending to get any sleep, so the sun was a relief." Killian looked at his plate, taking his first bite since Emma got there. "So, how have you been? I never got the chance to ask last night."

He was trying small talk, and it hurt Emma more than she ever imagined. The fact that things were so awkward and they couldn't just talk anymore. He was trying to act casual, putting a barrier up around himself; something she'd done so many times to him in the past.

"Fine I guess. Busy."

"Yes, of course. How's Henry been?"

"Great. He's grown up a lot. Still has the same optimist attitude. He loves being a brother." Emma spoke softly. Their conversation seemed so forced, it tore her up inside. "How have you been?"

"Emma…" His voice broke. She could hardly bring herself to look into his eyes. When she did, his face softened slightly, allowing her to see everything he had been trying to hide before. "I survived."

It took all the self-control she had not to grab him and hold him. She hardly knew why she was restraining herself, except that she knew she had lost the right to. She wished that things would've just fallen into place; that they could start where they left off, but she knew that was unrealistic. Emma could tell that something on her face gave her away to him. He had always been able to read her.

Killian forced a smile, "So where are you staying? Your parents' place?"

"No, I got a room here at Granny's." Emma said, taking another bite of her breakfast.

"Well if you didn't want to stay here, I have an extra bedroom at my place." Killian offered.

"You mean you don't live on your ship anymore?" Emma teased softly.

"No. Alas, I would've just stayed, but your father convinced me it was impractical. Although I do spend most nights there. Most days too, for that matter." Killian explained.

"I would love to see it sometime, your place." Emma replied.

"You can stay there if you want. It's plenty big." Killian suggested again.

"That's okay. I'm set." Emma said.

"It's really no trouble."

"No. I'm fine really. Thanks for the offer." Emma smiled at him. He returned the smile, but it lacked its sparkle. Emma wondered if she'd ever see his old smile again. "See you around, Killian."

Getting up, she left her half eaten food still sitting there, and Killian going back to swirling his fork around his plate without eating anything.


	7. Chapter 6

Chapter 6

After leaving the diner, Emma decided that it would be a good idea to head back to the loft. Her parents were most likely up by now, and they would be wondering what she had been up to. She didn't want them to think she was avoiding them. Even if a part of her wanted to, she knew that she felt most like herself while talking to those she loved.

Experience taught her that isolation was a bad idea. While she was gone, it was fine. But being back here, she remembered every reason that she left. Every once in a while, during those three years, she would sit and wonder if it was even worth it.

 _It definitely was worth it. Although leaving everyone behind… maybe not._

Emma reached the loft, and unlocked the door. She knocked as she opened the door, feeling slightly uncomfortable with just walking in. Her parents were in the kitchen eating breakfast. Neal was sitting at the bar, giggling while he ate.

When she walked in Snow immediately called her over. "Emma! We were wondering where you got to. Did you get some breakfast?"

Emma walked over to them, and sat at the bar beside her brother. "Yeah I ate at Granny's."

"Oh so you went and got a room then?" David asked. Emma nodded.

"You got up pretty early." Snow observed.

"Yeah well. Eva wakes up early, so I guess I'm used to it." Emma replied. She looked over at Neal, who was looking at her curiously. "Hey Neal. How are doing today?"

"Fine." He said, "Do you like pancakes?"

"Yes I love pancakes. I just ate some at Granny's?" Emma answered.

"I like them too. Are you my big sister?" Neal said bluntly.

"Yes. I sure am." Emma said, smiling at him widely. She gave a side glance at her parents, who were smiling too.

"Oh. Then you have magic." Neal stated.

Emma looked at him, startled at his answer. Snow and David just laughed. "Yep I do."

"Maybe you could teach me some, since I'm your brother. Regina says I'm too little." Neal was smiling really wide, his face so hopeful.

"I don't know. I guess I could try. It would be really hard." Emma said, trying not to laugh.

"Right now?" He asked hopefully.

"Neal, go play for a little while." Snow cut in. Neal looked at her like he was about to argue, but then climbed down his stool, and went upstairs.

"He's really talkative." Emma laughed.

"Sometimes I can't believe the things that come out of his mouth." David said, shaking his head. "He must've been thinking about asking you that since we told him you were in town to stay yesterday."

"They sure grow up fast." Snow sighed. Emma nodded in agreement without saying anything.

"So, what do we have planned today? Are we going to try to find some act of true love or something?" Emma asked, changing the subject.

"We have all of our research at the library. We can go through it there, come up with something." David replied.

"Well the sooner we get started the better. We can come up with some sort of plan, and then I can call my kids."

* * *

Emma walked down the sidewalk on her way to the library. There were more people walking out now that it was later in the morning. Some of them looked at her and waved excitedly, but others seemed to be avoiding eye contact. Emma was grateful to have her parents with her to keep her mind off of everyone else.

Neal was chattering excitedly by Snow's side. Listening to him put a smile on Emma's face. His presence really helped her keep the light part of herself at the forefront. He reminded her of Henry, the way he was so positive about everything. He also looked like Eva a little, as David had said before.

There was a side of her that felt sad, looking at him. He made her miss her own kids so much. It was also hard to see the way he was with their parents, as Emma wished so much that she could've had that. But those thoughts were mostly pushed aside for the good ones, the happy ones.

When they entered the library, Belle was sitting behind the desk on the computer. When Neal saw her, he giggled in delight and ran over to her. Belle picked him up happily, and hugged him.

"How's my favorite little man?" Belle asked him.

"Good. Did you know I have a big sister?"

"Yes I did." Belle answered, looking at Emma briefly. "Why don't you go read some books?"

"Okay." Neal happily climbed out of her arms, and ran over to a corner, that Emma observed had been turned into a kid's area. Neal chose some books off of the shelf, and settled himself into one of the beanbags, and started looking through the pictures.

"Hi, Belle." Emma greeted.

Belle walked up to her, giving her a brief hug before saying, "It's good to see you Emma."

Emma, along with Belle and her parents started going through all the research that they could find. They exchanged a few remarks as they read through the information, but nothing new. Emma looked through the information, reading up on the history of the Dark One. That was information that her and Henry couldn't find outside Storybrooke. She also realized that David must've added the information she emailed him, because that was all here too.

After about a half hour of catching herself up on the history, Regina came in. Emma looked up at her, making eye contact, and then looked away. She didn't want to start back up the argument they had the night before.

"So you've already started. Wonderful. Have we come up with something yet?" Regina asked, coming over to join them.

"We're just catching Emma up with the information we have." David explained.

"I see. Of course that wouldn't be necessary if you hadn't left in the first place, Miss Swan."

Emma glared at her, but stopped herself from saying anything. There was truth to what Regina was saying, but Emma wasn't about to give her the satisfaction of knowing that Emma sort of agreed with her.

Killian walked in only minutes after Regina. Emma stared at him for a while, but he was avoiding her stare. Emma started focusing on the notes before her again, and willed herself to concentrate on them instead of Killian.

Emma got caught up on the notes after about an hour of reading through them. Most of it was what she herself had found with Henry about Merlin and what sort of power he might've had. The rest of it was the history of the Dark One. All in all, it gave Emma even more of feeling that there was no hope in finding anything to get rid of it.

The door to the library opened again, this time it was Mr. Gold. He strolled in, and walked over to Belle, giving her a brief kiss. Emma just stared at him, until he caught her eye. Emma didn't like the fact that he was here. But she tore her eyes away from his, and kept her mouth shut.

"So have the Charming's come up with a plan yet?" He asked.

"Not quite." Snow replied. "We were just catching Emma up with the information."

"I'm caught up. It says that the only magic that was more powerful than Merlin is true love. Yet, I don't see how that can help, seeing as it hasn't made the slightest difference yet." Emma remarked, slightly annoyed and throwing the book she was reading back on the table.

"Yes, well that is the conundrum isn't it?" Rumple sneered.

Emma looked at him in the eyes, Even though she was now the Dark One, Rumple still had that mischievous glint in his eye. Probably from knowing so much more than her about what it was like to deal with it. He was the Dark One for three hundred years after all.

"Well we have all assumed in the past that true love's kiss could break any curse, but seeing how that hasn't worked, we need to brainstorm about more powerful act of true love." Snow interjected.

Emma glanced at Killian automatically, finding him staring at her back. They both looked away from each other. Emma found instead David's eye, who held her gaze and tried giving her a reassuring look.

"And what would you suggest, seeing how you are the expert on true love?" Regina asked Snow, almost sarcastically.

"I don't know. Emma what do you think?" Snow asked.

Emma shook her head slowly, "I have no clue."

"Well, have you ever felt so much love, that it was all consuming?" Snow asked.

"What?" Emma asked, trying to laugh it off.

"I mean, can you think of a moment when you were overcome with love? Maybe we need a moment like that."

Everyone was staring at her. Emma just kept staring right back, not knowing exactly what they wanted from her. She was almost trying not to laugh, but all of their faces were serious. It made her uncomfortable.

Averting her gaze and looking onto the floor instead, she answered their question. "Yes. I have."

"Well, when was it?" David asked.

Emma looked at Killian, who was boring his gaze into her soul. "When I first held Eva. But that's not really a scenario I want to try and recreate."

She saw Regina roll her eyes, and wander away a few feet. "Great."

"Well, obviously that didn't work. I'm still the Dark One." Emma said, defensively.

"Yes. Probably because you were out of town while it happened." Regina snapped.

"Perhaps." Rumple interjected. "But it probably should've worked anyway. There's no way to know."

Emma's fury reached its peak, and she snapped. "Who asked you?"

Rumple gave a small laugh. "Believe it or not Miss Swan, I'm trying to help."

"Well, I don't need your help."

"Oh well I think you do. Like it or not, I'm the only one here that has any real knowledge of what you are experiencing. So my knowledge and experience are probably going to be very crucial if you really want to get rid of the darkness for good."

Rumple sat staring at Emma for a few minutes. Everyone was quiet, looking between the both of them. Emma finally stood up and walked past Rumple to the exit. Without looking at anyone, she walked out and started walking towards Granny's.

Instead of walking the whole way, she just materialized into her room at Granny's. She didn't want anyone to follow her and stop her. Now in her room, she started pacing back and forth, trying with all her might to not start tearing the place apart in her rage.

Her head was hurting her once again, so she reached into her jacket and pulled the dagger out. Absent mindedly tracing her name, she kept pacing. Her head started to clear somewhat, but she was still furious.

She didn't want Gold's help. Even though she knew rationally that this wasn't his fault, she couldn't help feeling resentful towards him. She couldn't help feeling like this was his entire fault. His and Regina's.

She felt like screaming. Why did she have to save Regina in the first place? It wasn't like Regina didn't deserve it after everything she did, right? Sitting down on the bed, she closed her eyes and forced herself to look at the whole situation rationally.

No, it wasn't Regina's fault. She had wanted to take the darkness so Regina didn't have to die. She had been fighting for Regina to have her happy ending, and Regina had earned it. Besides, if she hadn't tethered it to herself, it would have just finished Regina off and went on to the next person until it had been contained. _I wanted to do this, so no one else had to._ Sighing to herself, she felt herself calm down. _But I just wish that I could have a chance at a happy ending too._

There was a knock at door. Getting up, she put the dagger back into her inside pocket, and answered the door. Snow walked in as soon as the door was opened, and made her way past Emma. Emma closed the door.

"Emma, I know it is weird to have Gold helping, but he does have a lot of knowledge about all this." Snow started as soon as Emma turned to face her.

"I know that he does, but so do we. I just spent an hour reading the entire history." Emma folded her arms in front of her.

"He was right Emma. He is the only one alive who understands what you are going through."

"I don't need anyone to understand, Mom. I just need a way to get rid of it, and as far as Rumple's concerned, we know just as much about getting rid of it as he does." Emma argued.

Snow sighed, "You're right. But that doesn't mean his knowledge won't come in handy."

"If it was going to, you don't think it would have by now?" Emma snapped.

Snow looked taken back for a second. "Okay I get it. You don't have any hope of finding anything. But we will Emma. Have a little faith."

Emma didn't answer. She just stared at her mom for a few moments, and then walked over and sat on the bed. Snow watched her sadly, but Emma still had nothing else to say. Snow smiled sadly, and then mentioned she needed to get back to David and Neal. Emma nodded, and Snow left.

Grabbing her phone from her pocket she decided to facetime Henry. Maybe talk to Eva too. She dialed his number and waited for him to answer. Henry answered really quickly. He smiled at her, but she could tell he was a little stressed.

"Hey, Mom. What's up?" He asked.

"Nothing new. How are you doing?" Right as the words left her mouth, she heard some crying.

"It's just Eva." Henry sighed. "I can't get her to take a nap. She's been asking about you all day."

"Where is she? Can I talk to her?"

"Yeah. Hang on." Henry set his phone down, and disappeared from the screen. Emma heard him say, "Eva come here. You want to talk to Mom?"

She heard Eva gibbering while crying, and then Henry was back. He sat down with Eva on his lap, and was holding the phone back up.

"Hey, Eva! Are you okay, lovey?" Emma asked.

Eva grabbed the phone from Henry and held it close to her face, "Mamma?"

"Hey baby!"

Eva was crying again, talking really fast. Emma caught the words, "Mamma" and "home." Henry took the phone away from her, which just made her cry harder. She slid off Henry's lap, and ran away from him. Eva always liked to be alone while she cried. Emma's heart hurt for her.

"She really hasn't been this bad all day. She's just tired and won't take a nap." Henry sighed.

"Do you want me to come home?" Emma asked.

"No. She'll be okay once she sleeps. I'm sure we'll be okay for a couple more days. Anyway, I should go try and put her in her bed again. Bye."

"Bye." Henry hung up, and Emma was left staring at her phone screen.


	8. Chapter 7

Chapter 7

It's been a couple days now; a couple days of discussing every possible way they can get rid of the Dark One. But they've gotten nowhere. Everyone is at the library, again. They've been here for days, and Emma can't help but feel like she's wasting her time.

It's been quiet for a while. Everyone has papers that they are reading, and there is shuffling every now and again, but no one says anything. Emma puts the papers, which she's looking at, down. She hasn't been able to focus on them, as everything just seems redundant.

"This is pointless." She mutters at last. Everyone looks at her.

"We'll get there. We just have to keep at it." David tries to reassure her.

"Keep at what? Re reading this information and giving half-hearted suggestions?" She's being unfairly cruel, but she can't help it. "Maybe it's time to face the fact that there is no way, and I'm stuck with it. Unless someone kills me, of course."

"Well now, we know that isn't true." Regina rolled her eyes. "Gold is still alive, and he's not the Dark One anymore."

"Yeah because we took it out of him. It was still there. Even if we found a way to do that to me, the Dark One would still remain. We would have to have someone else tether themselves to it." Emma responded, not even looking at Regina. "Then we would be right back here."

"Maybe Regina has a point, Emma. Someone else could take it. I would be glad to take it from you, let you be happy." David said.

Emma looked at him, and saw the honesty there. He would do anything for her, as would others in the room. But Emma shook her head.

"No. You have a family and a good life. Besides, my light magic gives me the best chance to fight it. It makes sense for me to keep it."

"That doesn't mean that there isn't another way to get rid of it, Emma." Snow interjected.

"Maybe. I'm going to tell Henry to come home, in any case. There's no point in continuing when both of my true loves are out of town." Emma glanced at Killian briefly, but looked away before she could make out his expression.

"Well that seems like a wonderful idea to me." Regina answered.

"I think I have a good enough grasp on the darkness, so having Eva here shouldn't be a problem." Emma added, more to herself than anyone else.

* * *

Killian watched everyone pack up the notes back into the notebooks. He handed his to David, who put them away. Then Snow and David pull their boy from his corner, and they leave. Emma followed them, but not before she looked at him.

They haven't really talked since that morning at the diner. They haven't discussed what's going to happen when Eva gets here since the first night she arrived, and even that was brief. Emma expressed that she would like Killian to get to know their daughter, and he'd agreed. But he hadn't really discussed with anyone how nervous he was about it.

Saying a small goodbye to Belle, he left the library, and walked to the docks. He sat on the bench staring out at the horizon, seeking the comfort in it that he had always found before. But he could hardly see it. All he could think about was Emma… and their daughter.

Reaching into his coat pocket, he pulled out the picture that Emma had given him. He stared at the little girl, taking in her bright smile, her dark hair, the way her eyes seemed to twinkle at him. Emma has said how much Eva looked like him. He could definitely see the resemblance, but to him he could definitely see Emma in her.

 _I would have gone with you, Emma. I wanted to be there for you._

Someone was sitting next to him, pulling him out of his thoughts. Looking over he saw Belle looking over at the horizon. Putting the picture back into his pocket, he sat in uncomfortable silence.

"I saw how upset you looked when you left, so I figured you would like someone to talk to." Belle said finally.

"I don't mean to offend, love, but I'm not really in the mood for conversation." Killian said, trying to smile.

"Well, taking into the account that your daughter may be coming to town either tonight or tomorrow, I just thought it would be nice for you to have someone to talk to about it. It must be nerve wracking." Belle tried again.

"That's putting it lightly." Killian said, pulling out his rum and taking a sip.

"You want to talk about it?"

"Talk about what?"

"About your daughter? Emma? Anything?" Belle probed.

"What's to discuss? She left without a word, and comes back telling me we have a child. A fact that was obviously not important enough to let me know within the three years that she was gone." Killian took another drink.

"Are you excited to meet her? Your daughter, I mean." Belle asked.

"I don't know. I'm nervous I guess. She's not going to know me. For all she knows, I wanted nothing to do with her for the entirety of her life." Killian shook his head sadly. "That's not how I wanted things to be."

"She's still very young, Killian. If you stay a constant in her life now, she won't remember ever not knowing you." Belle reassured. "Besides I have a hard time believing that Emma would not tell Eva about you."

"She bloody well never told me about Eva. How am I supposed to believe she told Eva about me?"

"Listen I understand. Being in love with the Dark One isn't exactly a walk in the park." Belle said. "Rumple lied to me. He constantly chose power over me. I even thought that he didn't truly love me back."

"Aye that he did. Emma told me that she never stopped loving me, but I don't feel that way. She was out of town. The Dark One doesn't take over your mind out there like it does here. Which means, _she_ chose to keep it from me, not the Dark One."

"The way I see it was she was choosing herself over the power, which is more that Rumple could do. I know she didn't tell you about Eva. But maybe she was scared to. As long as I've known her, Emma has never wanted to feel like a burden to people." Belle supposed.

"She could never be a burden." Killian whispered.

"You know, the first time I kissed Rumple, the spell almost broke. I could see it working. But he stopped it." Belle sighed. "All the times I kissed him after that, it didn't come close to working though."

"Why is that, do you think?" Killian asked.

"I haven't a clue. But it makes me sure there's a way to help Emma." Belle smiled. "You should go talk to her."

"And say what?"

Belle shrugged, "You love her, right? Tell her that. Let her know there is a way to beat this. In any case, you two have a child together. It's probably a good idea to be on good terms before your daughter arrives."

Belle stood up. Giving a small wave, she walked off. Killian watched her leave for a second before he pondered over her words. She was right. He knew it. Making up his mind, he stood up and walked into the direction of Granny's.

* * *

Emma had just got back to her room at Granny's. She had walked her parent's home, but then used her magic to poof herself inside her rented room. Her parents kept telling her not to give up, but she was having a hard time keeping positive about the whole thing.

She was about to get her phone out to call Henry, when she heard a knock on the door. She answered it quickly, opening the door. Killian walked into the room without an invitation. Emma shut the door behind him, and turned around to face him, folding her arms nervously.

"Emma when you left I was a mess. I spent those three years trying to find a way to relieve you of this burden, so that you would want to come home to me. I would have just left and looked for you if it wasn't for your parents. It hurt me more than I thought it would to see you again, and it hurt even more knowing that you kept her from me. However, I came here to tell you that I'm still very hurt by what you did, but I'm willing to forgive you. I don't think it would be wise of us to remain distant, especially now that we have a child…together." Killian spilled it all out before he lost his nerve.

Emma bit her lip softly, before nodding in agreement. "Okay. I know I hurt you, Killian. But I missed you so much. I would love it if we could talk again, and not have it be so... hard. I know it's my fault, but it would mean the world to me if we could at least be friends again."

Killian stood looking at her for a second, and then he was over to her pulling her into his arms and hugging her. As he embraced her, Emma let out a sigh, closing her eyes and feeling just how great it was to be in his arms again.

Breaking out of the hug quicker than she would have liked, she stepped back slightly. "I was just about to facetime Henry. Do you want to join me?"

"Yes, Sawn. I would love to. That's when you can see the other person on your phone and talk to them, right?" Killian asked.

Emma nodded, and walked over and sat on the edge of the bed. Killian followed, and sat next to her while she called Henry. Henry answered pretty quickly.

"Hey Mom." Henry started smiling when he saw Killian. "And Killian."

"How are you lad?" Killian asked.

"Today has been going exceeding times better than the last couple." Henry replied.

"That's good to hear. Henry, we don't really have any updates, but I would like for you to bring Eva and yourself here tomorrow. If you want." Emma said.

"Will you be okay?" Henry asked her seriously.

"I'll be fine. I think it will be easier with you two here anyway." Emma said with a smile

"Awesome. Okay. Do you want to talk to Eva?" Henry asked, looking at Killian.

"Yes please." Emma answered.

Henry put down his device, and Emma and Killian heard him shouting after his sister. When he sat back down with her, she was giggling.

"Say hi to Mom." Henry told her.

"MAMMA!" Eva shouted.

"Hey lovey. What're you doing?" Emma asked lovingly.

"Playin!" Eva said happily. "Who dat?"

Eva was pointing at Killian. He took a deep breath, probably trying to find the words to say, but Eva scrambled off Henry's lap and ran away.

"Where'd she go?" Emma asked, laughing.

"She's running in her room. I could go get her again." Henry said, his head moving out of the camera for a second before he moved back into focus. "Never mind. She's coming back."

Eva was climbing back up Henry's lap. She turned around to face them again, and Emma noticed she had something in her hand.

"Look Mom. Daddy in dis picture. Daddy in dat picture!" She held the picture to show them. It was one of her and Killian together that she had framed in Eva's room. Eva was giggling, apparently tickled at the fact that they were on Henry's phone together, and the picture.

"Yep you're right. Do you want to come see me and Daddy tomorrow?" Emma asked. Eva was now hugging the framed photo to her chest and started nodding frantically. Then she was off again.

"She's just been running around this apartment all day." Henry said laughing.

"She has a lot of spirit." Killian said softly. Emma looked at him. He was smiling, but it was the smile he put on when he was trying to hide his emotions.

Emma looked back at the phone, "Well I'll see you tomorrow Henry."

"Can't wait. Love you, Mom." Henry said.

"I love you too, Henry."

They both hung up. Emma stood up and put her phone of the dresser. She could feel Killian's eyes on her, but she was afraid to look at them. She really didn't want him to stop talking to again, but seeing his face when he had seen Eva made her feel like that was a possibility. He's seen her now, and was probably even more furious with her for keep the fact of her existence away from him.

 _You'd deserve it._

"You told her about me?" Emma spun around at the sound of his voice.

"What?" She asked.

"She recognized me. From that picture." He added.

"Yeah. I did… I wanted her to know you." She was barely talking above a whisper.

Figuring she owed him more of an explanation, she started rambling. "I'm sorry. I didn't want my problems to take over your life. I wanted you there with me, I really did. But she… she's the daughter of the Dark One. I still don't know what that means for her, when she gets here."

Killian was there again, hugging her close to him, his hand threading through her hair. She sat there willing herself not to cry.

"She'll be fine, Emma. I don't know what I did to make you feel like you were a burden to me, but you never were. I want to help you with this." He pulled back and looked at her.

Emma nodded at him.

 _You were never the problem._ She wanted to say.

"I really want you to know her, Killian."

"Me too." He gave her a small smile, then started towards the door. "See you tomorrow?"

"See you tomorrow." She affirmed.

Closing the door behind him, she leaned against it lost in thought


	9. Chapter 8

Chapter 8

Emma was staring down the road in anticipation. It stretched on for a while, but there was no sight of her bug just yet. She looked around and caught her dad's eyes. He gave her a reassuring smile, and started hugging Snow close. They had left Neal at the library with Belle while they waited for Henry.

Regina was off to the side of the road, a little ways away from the group. She looked like she was trying to stop herself form feeling too much excitement. Emma looked away from her, feeling guilt start to sneak its way into her chest. She instead looked at Killian, who was standing right beside her, but that just made the guilt worse, so she looked back at the stretch of road ahead of her.

Snow and David were talking to each other. They were in deep conversation about maybe having a party at Granny's to welcome Henry home. Emma sat listening, trying to distract herself. Henry had called and gave them a rough time that he would be there before he left. She didn't want to call him now to see how close he was, because he was driving.

After a few long minutes, she saw a car in the distance. Regina walked a few feet forward in anticipation. Emma felt herself get excited. It had been way too long since she had seen her kids. She felt Killian shift beside her, so she looked at him. He was facing forward, his jaw set. He was nervous. Emma took his hand in hers, and gave it a small squeeze. He looked down at their joined hands, and entwined their fingers.

The bug was close to the line now, and she could make out Henry driving. She slipped her hand out of Killian's and walked to the line, reaching into her pocket for the scroll. Henry stopped the car just a few feet out. He got out, with a small smile on his face, almost as if he could see them. Emma tossed the scroll over, and it landed at his feet. He picked it up and read it hurriedly, and looked up.

"Mom!" He was over the line, hugging her.

"I missed you, kid." She said into his hair.

"I missed you too." He pulled back, looking at everyone behind her. "One second."

He was running back towards the car. In a few seconds, he had driven it over, and was out of it again, running towards Regina. Emma gave them a small glace, as Henry basically slammed into Regina, hugging her tightly. Then Emma looked towards her car, in the back seat, where Eva was waiting, not so patiently in the back seat.

Emma had just got the door opened, when Eva was practically screaming, "Mamma! I is here!"

Emma had her out of the car, quicker than she thought possible, holding Eva to her. Eva rested her head on Emma's shoulder, hugging her and softly patting her back. After a brief moment of just holding her daughter, Eva pulled back, holding Emma's face in her hands.

"Me and Henny went bye bye." Eva said. Emma smiled.

"Did you?" Eva was nodding her head, and then hugging Emma again.

Emma looked over and saw Killian exactly where she had left him. Her parents were by him, smiling widely at her. Emma started making her way to them.

"Eva, you want to meet your Daddy?" Eva looked over to where Killian was standing with David and Snow, still clinging to Emma's neck, pressing her cheek up to Emma's. Henry and Regina were watching them too.

She reached Snow and David first. "This is your grandma!"

Snow reached out and stroked Eva's face, briefly.

"You remember your grandpa!" Emma said in Eva's ear. Eva smiled at David as he gave her a small kiss on her forehead.

Emma turned to Killian, and he just sat staring at Eva for a second, before bringing his hand up to cup her face. He bent his head forward, kissing her forehead softly before looking at her again. Eva looked him up and down, looking at Emma, and then back to Killian. She looked down at his other arm, seeing his hook hand. Then she was lunging away from Emma, pulling his arm up, so that she could curl her fingers around his hook.

"Hook?" She was giggling. Killian scratched behind his ear, apparently feeling a bit embarrassed about his hook, but then Eva was jumping into his arms, and he caught her holding her while she sat playing with his hook.

"Arrrggg!"

Killian looked positively taken back, and Emma laughed at his expression.

"She loves pirates." Henry had made his way over to them, with Regina's arm over his shoulder. He broke away for a second to hug his grandparents, and Killian.

Eva was still giggling madly over his hook, rambling about pirates. Killian was looking at her proudly.

"You like pirates, Eva?" He asked. She nodded. "Did you know that I'm a pirate myself?"

"Yes!" She said firmly, holding his hook out, showing him.

"Yeah Eva, he even has a pirate ship!" Henry said excitedly.

Eva laughed, "A ship! The Jolly?"

"How do you know the name of my ship?" Killian asked, looking at Emma for an answer.

"Everyone knows the Jolly Roger is Captain Hook's ship." Henry answered.

"Ah. I see." Killian looked back at Eva. "Do you want to go sailing with me some time?

Eva stared nodding eagerly, and then jumped back into Emma's arms.

"We should probably head back into town." Emma said, looking around at everyone. They all nodded in agreement.

David and Snow headed towards their truck. Killian followed behind them, after giving Eva another kiss. Emma walked towards her bug, and got Eva situated into her car seat again. Henry followed behind her, and Emma turned to look at him, as he offered her the keys.

"Is it alright if I stay with Regina for a while?" He asked, as Emma took the keys from him.

Emma smiled broadly at him, "Yes. That's a wonderful idea."

"Sweet, thanks! See you later Mom." Henry turned to catch up to Regina, who was waiting by her car.

"Wait, Henry." Emma called after him.

He turned around to look at her. "Yeah?"

"Thanks again. For everything." Henry smiled. Waving, he ran to Regina and got in the passenger seat of her car.

Emma watched them drive away, before getting into her car, and following behind them.

* * *

Regina and Henry sat chatting the whole way to their house, catching up on the last three years. Henry sat talking about how school was, while Regina kept glancing at him fondly.

"It was hard being away for so long, but mostly I kept busy at the library, looking up information about Merlin." Henry finished.

"I'm so glad your home, finally." Regina said. They pulled up the driveway to their house. Regina parked the car, and turned it off.

"Look Mom, I know it must have been really hard on you that I left."

"I missed you a lot." Regina said, looking at him. "I missed so much, you're basically a man now."

"I'm sorry I had to leave so soon. I didn't really get the chance to say goodbye or anything. But Emma needed me more. I didn't want her to be alone, and I was the only one that caught her on her way out. I had to make a snap decision." Henry explained.

"I understand. I'm just glad your back now."

Henry smiled wide. "Me too."

"You've really grown up, Henry. I'm so proud of you." Regina smiled back.

Henry and Regina got out of the car, and made their way to the house. Regina put her arm around Henry's shoulder again. He was about the same height as her, she noticed.

"So how about I make dinner, and you can tell me all about being a big brother." Regina suggested.

"It's the best."

* * *

After making a brief stop at Granny's to drop of Eva's things, Emma and Eva headed to the Snow and David's loft. Snow was making dinner for everyone, and was really excited for Eva to meet Neal. Emma drove the short drive, while Eva chatted animatedly in the back seat. Emma could only understand half the words she was saying because she was talking so fast.

Parking behind David's truck, Emma got Eva out of her seat, and made her way up the stairs to the door. Eva walked alongside her, holding her hand. Walking up the stairs took a little longer than usual because Eva insisted on walking up them instead of letting Emma carry her.

They finally made it to the door, and Emma let Eva knock. Eva knocked repeatedly until David opened the door to let them in. They made their way inside, and Emma saw Killian sitting on the couch talking to Neal, who was playing with trucks on the floor in front of him.

David and Emma made her way over to them, as Killian looked up at her. The moment Eva recognized him, she ran to him, and jumped into his arms.

"Who are you?" Neal asked her. He stopped playing with his trucks, and walked forward a little, while Killian settled Eva on his lap.

"I is Eva."

"I'm Neal." Neal started scrambling onto Killian's lap as well, sitting on the opposite leg as Eva.

Killian looked up at Emma and David with raised eyebrows.

"Look whose good with kids." Emma said with a laugh.

"Emma, is Eva your baby?" Neal asked, looking at her.

"I not a baby! I is Eva!" Eva said defensively.

Neal looked back at her. "Okay fine. Is Eva your kid, Emma?"

"Yes, she sure is." Emma said, biting back a laugh.

"Emma is my sister." Neal informed Eva, climbing off of Killian's lap to the floor to continue playing with his trucks.

"Dat's my Mamma." Eva said, smiling widely at Emma.

"My mom is over there." Neal said, pointing at Snow in the kitchen. She looked over at him, and gave a little wave. Then he pointed at David. "That's my dad."

"That's right." David said, sitting down on the floor next to Neal, and started playing truck with him.

"Who's your dad?" Neal asked Eva.

"My dad?" Eva asked. She looked at Killian. "You be my daddy?"

Killian glanced at Emma, then back at Eva and nodded his head. "Yes."

"Uncle Killy is your dad?" Neal laughed, looking at David and then at Killian. "You never told me you had a kid."

Everyone started laughing at that. Neal fell over on the floor and laughed while on his back. Eva started covering her face and giggling. Emma stood there laughing softly, shaking her head. Stepping back, she made her way to the kitchen to help her mom with dinner.

When everyone stopped laughing, Eva grabbed Killian's hook again.

"Oh ho, oh ho, a pirate's life a me!" She sang softly.

"You want to be a pirate, Eva?" Killian asked her.

"I am pirate." She replied.

"I don't think your grandpa will be happy about that." Killian said, looking at David. David shook his head, and rolled a car over to Neal.

"Uncle Killy is a pirate." Neal told Eva. "He's Captain Hook."

"Nope." Eva said, shaking her head.

"I am Captain Hook, love." Killian growled softly in her ear, making her squeal with delight.

"No. I is Captain Hook!" Eva declared.

"You're Captain Hook?" Killian asked her. She nodded vigorously. "Then who am I?"

Eva sat thinking for a second. "you is a… codfish."

Killian looked at her defeated, while David howled with laughter.

Killian shouted over to Emma, "What have you been teaching her?"

Emma looked at him, laughing. "I didn't teach her that."

Snow tried to bite back her laugh, but she wasn't succeeding.

"Here, Eva. You can play with my trucks if you want." Neal said, offering one to her.

Eva climbed off Killian's lap, and joined Neal in playing with his trucks. David and Killian both stood up and walked into the kitchen, leaving the kids to play.

"They seem to be getting along great." Snow observed. Emma nodded.

Killian came over and stood by her.

"She's great, isn't she?" Emma said fondly, looking at Neal and Eva happily chatting and playing with trucks.

"She's wonderful, Emma." Killian said, looking at her, then down at the counter.

"Well, dinner is ready if you guys want to set the table really quick." Snow said, grabbing some plates, and pushing them into David's hand.

Emma stayed in the kitchen while everyone made their way to the table, setting it quickly and placing the food on it. It was the perfect evening. Emma had her parents again, Henry and Eva were in town finally. Killian was here, and was wonderful with Eva. But instead of feeling at peace like she thought she would, Emma felt cold. This was supposed to feel warm, but somehow Emma felt out of place.

Snow looked at Emma with a huge grin, and made a gesture to come over and sit down. Emma plastered a smile on her face in return, and went over to sit down.


	10. Chapter 9

Chapter 9

Emma woke in her bed at Granny's. Eva was snuggled close to her, still fast asleep. Emma brushed her fingers through Eva's hair softly, loving having her baby sleeping next to her again. Eva turned in her sleep, and Emma crawled out of bed, looking for her phone. It was only five in the morning.

Emma had been having a hard time sleeping that night. The shadows in her head were starting to cloud over her, and she had to remind herself that everything was going to be fine. Ever since the dinner with her family, she had felt off. Having her kids here was supposed to help her feel more in control, but somehow it made it worse.

Her head was aching again, and the pain from it was what had woken her up. She groaned slightly, wishing it would just go away and she could sleep. Sleep was supposed to help clear her mind, quiet her mind. Emma got out of bed, and found some aspirin. Getting a drink of water, she took a couple pills, praying that this time it would do something to help ease the ache in her head.

Looking back at the bed, she watched Eva sleeping peacefully, and felt guilt start to creep in. She loved having her daughter by her side again, but Eva deserved better. Emma was supposed to feel relief, the light was supposed to get stronger than the dark. Eva's presence was supposed to help, not make it worse.

 _I shouldn't have had Henry bring her so soon. I should have just gone back to her instead._

Emma had lied of course. She had told everyone that she had felt much better. She had faked a smile through dinner, and she watched Neal and Eva talk about their favorite animals. Henry had called and asked how she was doing, and she lied to him too. Because she was afraid if she told the truth, they would keep Eva from her.

It was ridiculous to think that. But Emma knew it probably wasn't best if Eva spent much time around her at the moment. Especially if she lost control. But she wouldn't… she wouldn't hurt her own child. She might hurt people that threatened Eva, but there was no way she could harm her. But there weren't any dangers to Eva here… the biggest threat was the Dark One…herself.

Emma got back into bed, and Eva instinctive moved closer to her. Emma hugged her close to her, not wanting to let go. Sighing, she lay there trying to clear her mind. Trying to push the shadows out, trying not to think at all. But she didn't fall back asleep. Right on cue, at six, Eva woke up, smiling widely.

* * *

Emma was sitting in a booth at Granny's with Eva. Eva was eating her breakfast, and Emma was just watching her, not having an appetite. Eva kept rambling on sweetly, while she ate. Emma loved listen to Eva ramble, even when she could only understand half the words she was saying because of having a full mouth.

The diner door opened, and Emma looked up to see Killian walking in. He spotted her immediately, and headed over to them. Eva started giggling excitedly when he reached them, and tried to climb up to him.

"Eva, you need to finish your breakfast first." Emma insisted, pulling Eva down gently, and giving her back her spoon. Eva pouted quietly, but went back to eating.

Killian sat down on the opposite side of them, and Eva gave him a smile. He returned it asking, "How are you doing, little lady?"

"I have eggs!" Eva pronounced.

Emma looked over at Killian, meeting his eyes. "Hey, Swan. I was wondering if it would be alright if I took Eva sailing today. She expressed a lot of excitement about my ship yesterday, so I thought it would be a great time for us to bond."

Emma's cast her eyes down, trying to hide the anxiety that stared to creep up. Eva was chattering excitedly, clearly really wanting to go. Killian caught on to her feelings at once.

"You don't like the idea?" Emma's eyes shot back to his, and she could see that he was a little hurt.

"No. I think it's a great idea!" Emma said, trying to push her thoughts away.

"Are you sure?" He looked apprehensive.

"Yes. Just… make sure she stays safe, and wears a lifejacket." Emma said, plastering a smile on her face, hoping he didn't see through it.

"Of course Swan." Killian nodded, but still looking at her with knowing eyes. "You can come too. I don't want you to feel nervous."

"That's okay. I was going to head to the library, and look for some more information anyway." Emma replied.

"Don't worry, Emma. I'll keep her safe." Killian said, reaching across the table, covering her hand with his.

"I know." Emma said, trying to sound cheerful, "I trust you."

She pulled her hand away from his, and turned to Eva.

"Are you done?"

"YES!" Eva shouted, jumping out of her seat and running to Killian. Killian picked her up gently, looking back at Emma.

"We'll only be a couple hours, and then I'll get her back to you."

Emma nodded. Killian turned around and walked out, turning his head to talk to Eva as he walked.

Paying for her food, Emma stood up and headed out the door. She had absolutely no idea what she would do at the library, but she hadn't felt like spending time with Killian. Not when it made her feel like she was losing control, not mention incredibly guilty. So she headed for the library instead.

It was empty when she arrived, which made her feel better. Some time alone was defiantly appealing to her. Emma sat down in her usual chair, but didn't make an effort to look through anything. Instead she just sat there, rubbing her temples, wishing the headache would dissipate.

She didn't know how long she sat there, but suddenly she sensed someone standing in the room. Her head shot up, and she looked up at Gold standing by the door observing her. Anger instantly flared in her chest. With everything else she was dealing with at the moment, now she had to add Rumpelstiltskin to the list.

"What do you want?" Emma spat out at him.

"I don't want a thing. I was just stopping in to see how you are faring." Gold said, with a false sweetness that made her teeth grind.

"I don't need you of all people to be checking up on me." Emma was seething.

"Now dearie, why are you lashing out at me? Do you blame me for your current situation?" Gold asked, still calm. "Because as I remember, you took on this curse of you own free will. I didn't force it on you."

"What do you want?" Emma repeated.

Gold laughed softly. "You sit there angry at me, but I'm the only one who knows what you are going through."

"You don't know what I'm going through. You know what you went through, that's it." Emma argued, but made no attempts to leave.

"You think that how you're feeling is unique to you?" Gold asked her, still with a dark chuckle in his voice.

"You gave into the darkness, Gold. I haven't."

"Yet." Gold said softly. Emma didn't respond. "I know the pull of the darkness, the constant tugging. You're right. Maybe I gave in more easily than you did, but I know more than anyone that it's only a matter of time, isn't it? That's why you left. Because you felt it taking over. And you feel it happening again. It's hurting you to fight it, and it would be so easy to let it consume you. The ache in your head would go away. The heaviness in your heart, the cloudiness of your mind. I can see it written on your face. You can feel the love in your heart start to be eclipsed by the darkness, hindering it."

"I still love my family." Emma whispered. "The darkness could never take that away from me."

"Yes. But then why hasn't true love's kiss worked. I believe you've kissed both of you children while here, and that pirate of yours. Tell me now, if you can still love them fully, why hasn't the curse been broken yet?" Gold was now in front of her.

"You think just because you didn't truly love your son or Belle, that it's the same for me?" Emma asked, standing up to meet his gaze, a small smile on her face. "I'm stronger than you ever were. You were nothing but a coward, hiding behind power."

"I'm afraid to break it to you, Miss Swan. But if I never truly loved Baelfire or Belle, as you point out, you are in the same boat as I was. It's what the darkness does, dearie. It hinders your love. If it was true for me, it's true for you as well. No point in trying to deny it. The darkness will take over sooner or later, and there will be no one to bring you back from it."

The anger bubbling under the surface comes to life, and Emma pushed Gold hard with her magic. He flew over the desk, and hit the opposite wall hard. Emma strolled over to him, her hand held up, threatening.

Gold watched her, as she got nearer. Then started to laugh as she raised her hands to strike again. "You see dearie. Magic. Power. They are your true love now."

Emma freezes as his words hit her with full force. Looking horrified at her hand, and then back to Gold, she felt panic start to rise up in her chest. She gave him one last glance, and then she's running. She's running out of the library as fast as her feet can carry her, leaving Gold alone in the library.


	11. Chapter 10

**Chapter 10**

Emma could feel the anger coursing through her veins. It was out of control, and she needed to get a grip before… before something bad happened. She couldn't believe that she had let Gold get under her skin like this, but his words were coming back to her like poison, and she could shake them away.

 _If you can still love them fully, why hasn't the curse been broken yet?_

 _The darkness will take over sooner or later, and there will be no one to bring you back from it._

 _Magic. Power. They are your true love now._

She was running, but she didn't know where. She didn't know where to go. She had to get away. She had to get away from all of this. She needed to leave, get out of this town. Just drive away and never look back.

 _But Eva. Henry. Eva and Henry._

Emma stopped running and looked around. The ocean was spread out in front of her, as far as she could see. Once upon a time, the sound of the waves, and the peacefulness would calm her, but it only made her more frantic. She looked around the dock, looking for the Jolly Roger. She spotted it, just making port.

 _Eva. Where is Eva?_

Emma heard a high pitched squeal, and deep laughter. Killian came into view, holding Eva above his head, as she laughed. Eva grabbed his face, and planted a sloppy kiss on his nose. Killian started walking down, off the boat. Henry came into view, following him. They were laughing together, not a care in the world.

Emma hid behind the nearest building. She didn't want to be seen, not in the state she was in. She tried furiously to blink the tears back that were forming to no avail. They spilled down her face, and she wiped them away angrily.

In a cloud of smoke, she was in her room at Granny's. Frantically, she looked around, grabbing her suitcase, and starting to throw any of her possessions in reach into it. Rummaging through her drawers, she grabbed some of her clothes, stuffing them in without bothering to fold them properly. At the bottom of the drawer was the dagger.

Emma picked it up, her hands shaking with anger, loss, and pain. Seeing her name etched into the side, Emma screamed in fury. She threw the dagger as hard as she could across the room. It hit the mirror in the corner and the mirror shattered into pieces. Feeling a small fraction of satisfaction, Emma pulled the drawer out of the dresser, and flung it across the room as well. Then she over turned the dresser. She then proceeded to trash anything within her reach, until the room was in utter chaos.

Finally feeling defeated, she fell to the floor, and let the tears flow. Every ounce of hurt she had felt since she became the Dark One, she let herself feel. The loneliness she felt after she left, the helplessness. Everything.

She heard a knock on the door, but didn't have the energy to care. Someone was calling her name. Wishing whoever it was would just go away, she let her face fall into her hands. The door was kicked in, but she still didn't bother looking up to see who it was. Arms were around her shoulders, and she was pulled into a hug. She let her head fall on his chest, the familiar warmth of her father calming the storm in her head just the teeniest bit.

"Emma. What happened? What's the matter?" David asked.

"I can't do this anymore." Emma managed to get out through her sobs.

They sat on the floor, David tenderly stroking the back of her head. After several long minutes, Emma pulled back. Hating herself for looking so weak, she moved away from him slightly, and turned her back to him.

"Emma, what caused this… breakdown." David reached out to her, touching her shoulder gently.

Emma took a glance around the room, seeing the ruins that she made. Pulling away from his touch sharply, she waved her hand, and everything returned to normal, fixed and in the proper place. The dagger was still by the mirror. David retrieved it, and handed it to Emma.

"Thanks." Emma said softly.

"Where you going somewhere?" David asked, indicating the half packed bag by the dresser.

"Dad… I can't do this. I can't stay here anymore." Emma said weakly, looking at his hurt expression. "Please don't hate me."

"Emma I could never… hate you. You have to know that." David said sincerely, sitting next to her again, and putting his arm around her. Emma let her head fall on his shoulder.

"It was supposed to help. Having Eva and Henry here was supposed to help." Emma tried explaining. David held her tighter. "But it isn't. It's making it worse."

"I suppose the darkness is fighting harder because it knows how much you love them." David suggested.

"If I loved them, then why hasn't the curse been broken?" Emma asked angrily.

"If it was that simple, the curse would've been broken long before it even reached you, Emma." David said simply.

"No Gold was right. I can't love them fully anymore. Because the want for power is too strong. A part of me wants it gone. But a part of me wants it. Wants to keep it. The harder I try to fight the pull for power, the more I need it. That's why I have to leave. I don't want anyone to be in danger because of me." Emma stood up and walked over to the dresser, putting the knife on top, looking at her name.

"Gold said you couldn't fully love?" David stood up, but stayed where he was.

"He says that the need for power is my true love now."

"Emma that isn't true. You have to know that." David said urgently, walking to stand by her side.

"I don't see how it can't be true. True love breaks any curse, right. But it doesn't work on this one, because I can't truly love." Emma traced her name softly.

"Do you feel like you love Henry less? Or Eva? Or Killian?" David asked.

Emma closed her eyes, shaking her head softly. "No. I don't feel like I love them less. That doesn't mean I don't. It's not about how I feel; it's just the reality of the situation."

"No it's not. I refuse to believe that. The strongest thing about you is your love, Emma. You can't let go of that belief." David urged her. "Gold is wrong. We're going to find a way to get rid of this, Emma. I promise."

"How can you be sure?" Emma asked, looking at him. Tears were filling her eyes again, but she refused to let them fall.

"I haven't seen you fail at anything yet." David stated.

Emma laughed softly. "You sound like Killian."

"Well then he's right. He believes in you Emma, and so do I. We all do. We're going to find a way to defeat this."

"The longer I stay, the harder it is not to give in." Emma said, her voice breaking slightly.

"Be strong Emma. Please don't leave just yet. Just stay for a little longer."

Emma felt herself nod. David stayed for a few more minutes, just to make sure she was okay. Then she was alone again. Sighing softly, she picked up the knife, and put it into the inside pocket of her jacket. Although the talk with David had helped calm her down, she still felt uncertain of how long it would take until the darkness took over completely.

She let her breathing steady itself, and then looked into the mirror. Her eyes were still a little red, but she knew that would only take a couple minutes before they cleared up. Making up her mind, she decided to go to Killian's apartment. She needed to pick up Eva in any case. But she also wanted to talk to him, and give him the dagger. The dagger needed to be in the hands of someone she trusted. Someone that wouldn't use it to control her, but to make sure that she didn't lose control and give in to the darkness.


	12. Chapter 11

Chapter 11

His ship was empty when she got to the docks, so Emma headed back into town. She texted Killian, asking where he was, and he responded with the address to his apartment. Emma drove to his place, and parked outside the building. Sighing softly to herself, she got out, and headed towards it.

She found herself outside his door in no time. She sat reading the faded numbers to herself, but couldn't bring herself to knock. It was several long moments before she was able to will herself to put her hand up by the door, and gently knock. She didn't knock very loud, but she heard a scuffle from behind the door, and soon enough Killian had swung the door open, and let her in.

Emma walked past him quickly, taking in his apartment. He was right about having plenty of room. He definitely needed someone to help with the decorating, as it was basically bare. Just the essentials were there, like a couch and dining table. There weren't any pictures, or any sort of decoration, not even a television.

"You look like you need someone to help you decorate the place a little. Maybe brighten things up." Emma observed, not turning to look at him.

"Well, like I said, I spend most of my time on my ship." Killian answered.

Emma nodded, and turned to look at him. "Where's Eva?"

"I brought the little lass here to find something to eat, but she fell asleep the moment we arrived. She's in on my bed at the moment. I'm sorry I didn't bring her to you straight away, but she looked so peaceful I didn't want to wake her." Killian explained.

"Don't worry about it. You're her dad…" Emma trailed off, and folded her arms, looking at the floor.

"I just thought that you wanted to have her with you. I know you missed her this last week." Killian said simply.

"I did. But I want her to spend time with you." Killian smiled at that, and Emma returned it.

They sat in silence for a while. Emma was trying to come up with a good way to explain what she was here for. Killian watched her curiously, picking up that she was uneasy.

"You want to sit down? I can get you something to drink while we wait for Eva to wake."

"No that's okay. I mostly came here to talk to you." Emma said.

"About what, love?"

"I wanted to ask you to hold onto this for me." Emma reached inside her inside coat pocket, and pulled out the dagger. She held it out carefully towards him, but he made no move to take it.

"Emma, what…?"

"I can feel the darkness taking over, and I don't trust myself with this anymore." Emma walked towards him, and offered it to him again.

"Swan, I know you. I know that you are strong enough to fight this. I don't want you to be… enslaved to me." Killian stepped back slightly, shaking his head.

"I wouldn't be. Only if you misused the power, and you won't. I trust that you won't. Please take it, Killian." Emma pleaded.

Killian reached his hand out, and took the dagger from her. "I'll keep it safe for you. I promise."

"Thank you." Emma said, and stepped back from him, turning away. Killian carefully placed the dagger into the desk in the living room, looking back at Emma who was pacing.

"Love, what happened?" He was back over to her in seconds, gently holding her shoulder so she would face him. "What's got you so worried?"

"I thought… that… having my kids near me would help keep the darkness at bay. But I was wrong. It's just gotten worse, and I don't know what else to do." Emma admitted.

"You needn't fear, love. I know that you wouldn't hurt them. Henry and Eva. You love them too much."

"Maybe that's the problem. I love them too much, that I'll do anything to protect them. Even hurt others. The temptation to just keep them near me all the time, and anyone who does anything to them would pay for it…until they hate me. Until they leave me." Emma pulled away from Killian, and sat on the couch, her face in her hands.

"I was going to leave again. I had everything packed to go, but David stopped me from going through with it." Emma looked up at Killian, who angrily turned from her.

"You were going to take Eva away from me?" Emma stared at his back, as he leaned over the desk. "Just when I've gotten to know her? You can't keep running from this Emma. There's more people involved now."

"I wasn't going to take her from you." Emma tore her eyes from him, as he turned to look at her. "I was going to leave her with you."

"You were… going to leave her?" Emma met his eyes, and he saw tears start to fall from them. Killian strode over to her, and sat down by her. "Why?"

"Because she deserves better than me. My love for her should be strong enough to overcome this stupid darkness, but it's not. I saw her with you, on your ship, with Henry. She was happy with you. And Henry was happy too. He has Regina, Mary Margaret, David… and you. I didn't want Eva growing up with me, the Dark One. Someone that she would either grow to hate, or be scared of. I couldn't take it if I looked into Henry's eyes one day and saw fear. Fear of me.

It happened with Gold. He lost his son. He almost lost everything because of this. And I'm destined for the same fate as him, except this time, I don't have a way out. Unless I'm killed."

"Emma, listen to me. You aren't Rumpelstiltskin. Just because that happened to him doesn't mean it's going to happen to you. You are stronger than he was." Killian gently pushed a stray strand of hair off Emma's face.

"Maybe. But it's only a matter of time before I can't fight it anymore, and the darkness takes over. That's why I had to give you the dagger; to make sure I don't get out of control." Emma held his hand to her face, leaning into it.

Killian softly leaned his forehead to hers, stroking her face with his thumb. "We're going to beat this, Emma. I believe in you. But if it gets to the point where you can't handle it anymore, and you want to leave; don't leave without me. We'll go with you. Eva, Henry, your parents, maybe even Regina. Me. There's no reason why you have to be alone. Don't leave me again, my love."

His lips brushed hers softly, and uncertainly. He pulled back just slightly, but Emma chased his lip with hers. She put her hand on the back of his neck, pulling him closer. He kissed her back, with so much promise that Emma whimpered. Killian broke apart from her, looking into her eyes, still caressing her cheek.

The moment was suddenly broken from a small cry from down the hall. Eva had woken up, and was calling for Killian.

"I should go get her." Emma said, standing up and walking towards her daughters cries.

Killian walked after her, and gently pulled her hand, turning her towards him. "Emma. If you wanted, the offer still stands. You and Eva are welcome to stay here. I have an extra room."

"I want to Killian. I just don't think it would be the best idea right now." Emma held his face, slowly reaching up and kissing him quickly before pulling back.

"I understand, love." Emma walked away from him again, and went to get Eva.


	13. Chapter 12

Chapter 12

David was livid. After talking to Emma, and seeing how upset she was, David decided that he should go have a talk with Gold. He walked straight from Granny's Bed & Breakfast to Gold's Pawn Shop. It didn't take him long to reach it, and when he did he walked right in calling for its owner.

"GOLD!" David shouted out.

Belle and Rumple were standing behind the checkout desk. Belle seemed started by the sudden intrusion, but Rumple rolled his eyes.

"I expected someone would be on their way to scold me. Miss Swan ran to her daddy, did she?" Gold sneered.

"She didn't run to anyone. I happened to find her after your 'talk,' and I want to know what exactly you said to her." David said.

"I just walked in to offer my support. She attacked me." Rumple defended.

"Somehow I highly doubt that." David held.

"You don't have to believe anything, but it's the truth. We had a small disagreement, and she attacked me. She seemed surprised at herself, and ran away."

"She told me that you said that she couldn't truly love anyone. She was about to leave town." David stated.

"Well maybe that's for the best." Rumple said simply.

"Like hell it is." David's voice was rising again, so Belle intervened.

"I don't think it would be best for her to leave. We read that love was a magic even more powerful than Merlin. Merlin seemed sure in his writings that it was the only way to defeat the Dark One." Belle said gently.

"Yes, but we can also assume that if after centuries, and the Dark One still hasn't been defeated, that maybe Merlin was giving his last sentiment of hope. But it might be pointless. Which is why he tethered it to a person in the first place." Rumple interjected his tone a little softer.

"If Merlin thought that there was a way, then there's a way." David argued.

"With all due respect, Charming, you don't know what it's like to be tethered to the darkness. Only me and your daughter do. And I can tell you right now, that if there was a way to get rid of it permanently, it would have been done centuries ago." Rumple said simply.

"That can't be true. Remember Rumple, when I first kissed you, the spell almost broke." Belle stated, gently rubbing Rumple's shoulder.

"What?" David asked, looking at Belle.

"Regina told me that true love could break any curse, and I went back and kissed you. At the time, she just wanted your powers gone. But it was working, before…" Belle trailed off, tearing her eyes from Gold, and back to David.

"So there is a way. There has to be." David declared.

"Why would it have only worked that time? And why not with Emma?" Belle asked.

"I don't know. Maybe because in that moment, I thought someone could care for me. But I chose the darkness instead, so it stopped it." Rumple answered.

"What about every other time?" Belle asked.

"I chose power. It was the thing I thought would keep me safe. It was the thing I thought I needed above all else." Rumple shifted his gaze away from Belle, ashamed.

"But Emma has never wanted the power." David argued.

"That you know of." Rumple said plainly.

"She chose to leave, rather than stay and keep it." David argued.

"That is true." Rumple said softly.

There was silence between them while they all sat in their thoughts. David slowly shook his head in frustration, wanting so bad to find a way to rid his daughter of this. She deserved to be happy. After everything she had done for everyone else, she deserved to be happy.

"Emma said that you told her this was suppressing her ability to love." David said softly, trying to keep the frustration from his voice.

"That's how it felt sometimes, yes. Not that I felt that I loved less. Just that my love wasn't enough. It obviously wasn't enough, or else it would've been gone sooner. Emma is different than I am though. She hasn't taken the darkness in completely. But I'm sure the same thoughts are plaguing her." Rumple admitted.

"Well I don't believe it affects your ability to love." Belle stated.

"Nor do I." David agreed.

"Then what do you think, Charming?" Rumple laughed.

"Maybe it… eclipses your ability to feel it." David suggested.

"Maybe." Belle agreed. "You said that our kiss almost worked because for a minute you believed that someone could love you."

"Perhaps." Rumple nodded. "Maybe that's your mission Charming. Get Emma to believe that the ones she loves, love her back."

"Yes. Yes. Thank you." David said, finally allowing himself to smile.

Turning away, he started to walk to the door, but was stopped by Gold. "If this is your task, Charming, then you need to know how difficult it will prove to be."

"We'll find a way to succeed. We always do."

"Yes. But with Emma's troubled past, having gone so many years without knowing what love is, it might be hard to get through to her. The darkness will be feeding on all her insecurities from the past. It may prove to be impossible."

"Nothing is impossible. Not when it comes to my daughter's happiness."

* * *

David, Snow, Killian, and Henry were all in the loft. David had called them all there to tell them what he had just discussed with Mr. Gold. They mostly sat in silence listening to him. Every once in a while someone would ask a question, but for the most part they just let him talk.

"So you're saying that the darkness is preventing her from feeling our love?" Snow asked, horrified.

"That's what I believe, yes." David said.

"So we just have to make her believe that we love her, and then true love's kiss will work?" Henry asked.

"That's the plan." David answered.

"Then this should be simple. I can tell her how much I believe in her. We've done this before. We can do it again." Henry said excitedly.

"I don't know if it will be that simple, Henry. The darkness is feasting on her darkest fears. She gave you up for adoption, and that has haunted her for a long time. It may be hard to get through to her through you." David said sadly.

"And she has a fear of being abandoned because of us." Snow said sadly, sitting down on the couch and covering her eyes. "Because she grew up without us."

"Our best bet probably lies with Eva. Or Hook." David said, gesturing to the pirate.

"Me mate?" Killian asked.

"Yes you." Snow said simply, lifting her head up to look at Killian. "You have always been at her side. She has trusted you probably more than even us. You haven't let her down yet."

"Except for the fact that she left for three bloody years, and I haven't been able to be with her then." Killian said furiously, turning away and leaning against the wall.

"She still loves you, Killian. I can tell. She was miserable while we were away." Henry said.

"You have to forgive her Killian, if we are going to get rid of this from her." David said. "I know she hurt you…"

"I do forgive her. That's not the problem. Ever since she's gotten back, she's been pulling away from me because she feels guilty. I was angry, so I let her. I thought I had gotten through to her earlier today when she came to pick up Eva, but…" Killian trailed off.

"You can't just give up!" Henry declared.

"I'm not going to. I'm just saying, it's not going to be any time soon if I'm who you're counting on. It's going to take time to repair our… relationship."

"I guess that's true." Snow said.

"Eva, then." Henry said hopefully.

Everyone nodded in agreement.


	14. Chapter 13

**A/N: This is the last chapter, but there will be a epilogue some time next week. Thank you everyone who followed this story and commented. You guys are the best! xoxoxo**

Chapter 13

Emma sat in the kitchen of her parent's loft. She was biting her thumbnail hard. Her anxiety level was worsened by the fact that she no longer had the dagger. Her brain was screaming at her to go the Killian's and retrieve it, but she knew it was best that she didn't have it.

Her parents, Killian, and Henry were in the living room with Neal and Eva, playing a game. Emma tuned them out, not being able to sit and enjoy the game with them. She was feeling way too antsy, and nervous. She didn't really want to be around anyone right now, but she was trying to look calm for her daughter.

She stole a glance at her family, and saw Killian was looking at her. She looked away quickly. They had kissed, but she hadn't been able to bring herself to discuss it with him. He wanted her to move in with him, and she wanted to. But she didn't see how it would work. How could he forgive her for what she did?

She was pulled from her thoughts when Henry called out to her.

"Mom, why are you over there? Come sit on the couch at least, even if you don't want to play with us."

Emma got up, and moved slowly to the couch. They were all looking at her, and she felt put on the spot all the sudden. As soon as she sat down, Eva scrambled to her lap.

"Actually Emma, we all wanted to talk to you." Snow said.

"About what?" Emma asked, trying to feign cheerfulness.

"Your father told us that you were thinking about leaving again."

Emma stole a glance at her dad, and then her mom.

"I decided against it for now." Emma said, gently stroking Eva's head. "Killian has the dagger. I should be fine now."

"We just wanted you to know, that if you did decide to leave… we could come with you." Snow suggested.

"I couldn't ask you to leave here. Everyone you love is here." Emma stated.

"Emma you are a part of this family." David said firmly, sitting beside her.

"What is this? An intervention?" Emma asked, setting Eva down, and getting up. She walked a few paces away from everyone, running her hand through her hair in frustration.

"It's not an intervention." David explained. "We just figured… that we should all let you know that we are here for you."

"And that we love you." Henry added.

"I know that." Emma said, turning to face them, arms folded defensively.

"Do you?" Snow asked. "Because you left for three years, and didn't contact us."

"I didn't do that because I don't love you." Emma said frustrated. "I'm sorry, okay. I know I screwed up…"

"We know that you love us Emma. That's not what I said." Snow interrupted.

"You left because you wanted to protect us." David said.

"And because you didn't want to be a burden." Killian added, speaking for the first time.

"But I want you to stay!" Neal added. "You have magic, and you're my sister."

Emma smiled at him. "I'm not going to leave, little guy."

"Emma, you need to believe that you were and will never be a burden." Snow declared.

"You don't know… listen to me. What if I did give into the darkness? What if we can't find a way to get rid of this? You're telling me that you would still feel comfortable with me being around Neal? I don't even know if I trust myself around Eva!" Emma said angrily. She saw Eva start at her name, and stare at her mother.

"What wrong, Mamma?" Eva asked, walking towards her. Emma crouched down to look at her daughter, her eyes so very much like Killian's.

"Nothing lovey." Emma tried to smile, but she knew that Eva wasn't buying it. Her child was a perceptive one.

Eva held Emma's face, and kissed her nose. "You sad, Mamma? I kiss it better."

Emma laughed softly, hugging Eva. "Thanks lovey. I'm not sad. I'm fine."

Emma's heart clenched and she held her child closer. She never wanted to lose this… but she would. How could she keep something so pure with the darkness inside her, threatening to burst through at any moment? Killian had the dagger to stop her from doing anything horrible. But what about how she acted from day to day. She couldn't let go of her constant worry, her constant anxiety. She would eventually drive everyone away with it.

She stood up, still hugging Eva. Emma looked at everyone in front of her, her family. Why couldn't she feel happy with them here? This is what she wanted her whole life. To have a family. To have support and unconditional love. But it was like the longing for it, kept her from thinking that it could be real, permeant. It was going to go away. She felt the darkness cloud her brain as she thought about them, and what they were saying to her.

Her eyes filled with tears as her headache grew. She wanted to yell, scream, call them liars. She started shaking slightly, so David walked over to her, and tried to take Eva. Emma held out her hand, and David flew back, landing on the couch.

"Emma, stop!" Killian shouted. Emma felt her control leave, and she froze. She looked at Killian, as Snow walked over to take Eva.

Eva wouldn't let Snow take her, she was clinging to Emma too hard.

"David, I'm sorry." Emma said softly. "I don't know… what…"

"What happened to calling me Dad?" David asked, groaning slightly as he stood up.

Emma felt herself relax slightly, and Eva seemed to notice too. She pulled back from Emma just slightly, and rested her forehead on Emma's.

"I wasn't trying to take her away from you Emma. I just thought you might like a minute to yourself to regain some control." David explained.

"We don't care, Emma. If we never find a way to get rid of this, it won't matter. We still want you to be here with us. We want to help you. And if you feel overwhelmed sometimes, let us help." Snow said tearfully. "We don't ever want to lose you again."

"Don't be scared, Mamma." Eva whispered. Snow held out her hands, and Eva went to her.

"I love you Mom." Henry said. "Whether you are the Dark One or not."

Killian walked to face her, his face distraught. "I'm sorry, love. I wasn't trying to control you. I just reacted."

"Killian, that's why I gave you the dagger. I…thank you." Emma reached up to cup his face. "I love you."

He was kissing her, and she felt herself start to fight it. Her parents were around, Henry… she couldn't do this now. But a smaller part of her brain didn't care. And she was pulling him closer, letting him tell her with his lips how much he loved her. Letting herself believe it. She didn't care anymore. She didn't care if she was the dark one forever, as long as she could be with her family. As long as she could have this with him.

She felt her head clear, the clouds leaving and letting her think clearer than she had in as long as she could remember. She felt him pull away, and she pulled him to her, not letting him.

"No. Please don't stop." She murmured against his lips. "It's helping."

"Swan, your parents…"

"I don't care."

"Emma, are you okay." Snow asked.

Emma sighed, letting her head fall on Killian's chest. She wished that they were alone…

"Stop kissing." Neal said, disgusted.

"Neal, be nice." Snow urged.

Emma was still clinging to Killian, waiting for the shadows to return, and cloud her brain once more. But they weren't. In fact the more she stood there, the lighter she felt. Pulling away suddenly, she looked at everyone.

"What's the matter?" Henry asked.

"Killian, do you have the dagger with you?" Emma asked, looked back at him.

"Of course, Swan." Killian answered. "I told you I would keep it safe."

"Can I have it?" Emma asked, her heart pounding fast.

Killian looked at her curiously. "Yes."

He pulled the dagger from his pocket, handing it over. Emma grabbed it, looking at it, both sides. It was blank.

"Emma…it's…it doesn't have you name anymore." Killian observed.

Emma put the dagger aside, laughing hysterically. Then she was hugging Killian again.

"What happened?" Henry asked. "You aren't the Dark One anymore?"

"It must've been true love's kiss." Snow said quietly.

Emma pulled back from Killian, looking at him again, still smiling. He was smiling back at her. He brushed a stray hair from her face.

"Must've been." Emma breathed, pulling away finally. Looking around, she ran and hugged her mom, and David started hugging her too. She reached out her hand to Killian, who held it, while she hugged her parents.

"You all helped me." Emma said softly. "You never gave up."

"Did you ever doubt we would?" Snow asked.

"Never. But honestly, for a while there, I didn't think... Thank you for believing in me."


	15. Epilogue

Epilogue

Emma sat on the floor of Eva's new room, trying to assemble the crib. Killian was leaning against the wall, reading the directions, and looking so confused by what he was reading that Emma had to bite her lip to keep from laughing.

"I don't know what the bloody hell any of this is supposed to mean." He sighed, threading his fingers through his hair in mild frustration.

"How long have you lived in this land? And things like this still baffle you?" Emma teased lightly.

"I've grown accustomed to a lot, but this is ridiculous."

Emma laughed. "It's fine. I'll just have David help me when he's finished carrying stuff in."

Killian scoffed, clearly very offended by her suggestion. "No. I want to be involved in this. I want Eva's room to be perfect."

Emma bit her lip, smiling. "Okay. Here. Give me those, and I'll tell you what to do."

Killian handed the papers to her, and joined her on the floor, picking up random parts, and inspecting them. Emma heard the scuffling from the front door. Henry and David were carrying in her furniture from her old apartment, and unloading everything that they had packed. Killian's place didn't have much, so it was easy to fit her things in, and all her decorations. Unpacking would probably take a while, but she didn't mind. It just felt nice to be moving somewhere where she knew she belonged.

David stuck his head through the door frame, and Emma looked up at him. "That's the last of it. Do you need help unpacking or anything?"

"No. That's fine. You've done plenty." Emma replied.

"Well, I'm going to go home and grab some food. I'll be back with your mother in a few hours to drop off Eva and see how you're settling." David said.

"Thanks."

David looked at Killian, trying to put two parts of the crib together, and failing. "You sure you don't need me to help with that?"

"Oi, mate! We're doing just fine."

David walked out, chuckling. Emma and Killian worked together, getting the crib set up. It didn't take that long, as Emma had set it up before, and knew the general process. Killian picked up on it quickly, and after they were finished, he stood looking at it proudly.

"That's one steady looking bed. Perfectly fit for my pirate princess." Killian beamed.

"She won't be in it much longer though. She'll be upgrading to a bed pretty soon." Emma mused.

Henry poked his head through the door, carrying a box. "I got the TV all set up."

"Great. Thanks Henry." Emma said.

"Here are some of Eva's clothes. I can unpack them if you want."

"That's okay. You deserve a break." Emma smiled.

"Okay. Maybe I'll head over to Regina's for a couple hours, and come back tonight. You guys want to do a movie night tonight?"

"Yeah. Sounds great." Emma said.

"Great. See you later." Henry walked out, waving.

"Bye." Emma called out.

"He's a great lad. Turning into quite the man." Killian said.

"Yeah." Emma agreed, walking over to the box Henry had set down. Opening it, she starting pulling out the clothes inside, and putting them onto Henry's bed in the corner by the dresser. She started folding them carefully, and putting them into a drawer.

Killian walked up to her, and hugged her from behind. Emma paused her task, and turned around in his arms, resting her head on his chest. Killian kissed the top of her head affectionately, and Emma looked up at him.

"I'm very honored to have you moving in with me." Killian said softly.

"Thank you for being patient with me." Emma replied. Leaning up and giving him a quick kiss.

"Of course. I'd wait for you forever, Emma."

"That's unnecessary now. I'm planning on staying with you forever. If you'll let me."

"Yes, Swan. I would like that very much."


End file.
